Comparison of seven- and five-day physical therapy coverage in patients with acute orthopedic disorders

This study evaluated the efficacy of seven- versus five-day physical therapy coverage in an acute care hospital setting by monitoring percentage of consecutive treatments, mean number of treatments per patient, and lengths of hospital stay (LOS) for 482 patients with acute orthopedic disorders. The Experimental Group (n = 276) received seven-day coverage; the Comparison Group (n = 206) received five-day coverage for four months. Results were analyzed for the group as a whole and by diagnostic categories. Experimental Group subjects received a higher percentage of consecutive treatments than the Comparison Group subjects (72% vs 42%). No difference was found between the groups for mean number of physical therapy treatments received per patient. The LOS was neither significantly different between the two groups as a whole nor for 9 of the 11 diagnostic categories. The results imply that providing consecutive physical therapy treatments through seven-day coverage without increasing the number of physical therapy treatments will not reduce the LOS for patients with acute orthopedic disorders.