Pre-discharge home visits by occupational therapists completed for patients following hip fracture

Home visits by occupational therapists are a routine part of practice, but there remains little understanding about factors that are associated with the decision to complete a home visit. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of pre-discharge home visits by occupational therapists for patients following hip fracture and explore factors associated with their occurrence.

A retrospective cohort study including 293 patients admitted to a metropolitan health service following hip fracture. Multi-variate logistic regression was used to identify significant variables associated with receiving a home visit.

Home visits were conducted by occupational therapists for 28% of patients admitted from a private residence, and for less than 5% of patients admitted from low-level residential care facilities. The variables significantly associated with receiving a home visit at a private residence were older age and being admitted to a rehabilitation ward, but the model only explained between 9% and 13% of the variance. Other clinical and socio-demographic variables evaluated were not associated with the provision of a home visit.

About one in four people admitted to hospital from a private residence following hip fracture receive a home visit. The results suggest that whether or not a patient receives a home visit has little to do with socio-demographic or clinical factors at the time of admission to hospital. There remains much unexplained variation in whether or not a patient receives a home visit and this study highlights the diversity that exists in clinical practice.