Gait Reacquisition Rate, Home Outcome Rate, and Gait Prognosis in Patients with Femoral Neck Fractures and Mental Illness – A Multicenter Study

OBJECTIVE: A total of 183 patients admitted to five hospitals for proximal femoral fractures and psychiatric disorders were examined to determine whether their physical function could be improved by rehabilitation and to identify factors that affected home discharge. METHODS: We conducted surveys to collect data regarding patients’ age, sex, type of mental illness, location at time of injury, complications, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Global Assessment of Functioning scale scores, surgical technique, time from surgery to the start of rehabilitation at the target hospital, rehabilitation duration, results of cognitive function tests (e.g., the Mini Mental Status Examination), walking ability before the injury, final walking ability, functional independence measure (FIM) of the patient’s activities of daily living at the start and end of treatments, and discharge destinations. RESULTS: The motor function index showed a significant improvement from an average of 36.0 points at admission to an average of 53.0 points at discharge. Overall, 47.9% of patients who were able to walk before injury could regain gait ability. The discharge rate to the patient’s home was 15.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The gait reacquisition rate for patients with femoral neck fractures and mental illness admitted to a psychiatric ward was 47.9%, which was lower than that reported in previous studies, but higher than that for dementia patients. Binomial logistic regression analysis identified the following predictive items for home discharge: whether the fracture occurred at home, FIM cognition item scores at admission, and total and motor item scores at discharge. The derived equation had a high hit rate of 80.9%.