Health outcomes after the implementation of multidisciplinary clinical guidelines for the care of hip fractures

Abstract

Background and objectivesThis study aims to evaluate the impact of implementing multidisciplinary clinical guidelines in the process of caring for patients with hip fractures. Materials and methodsThis work is a pre- and post-intervention prospective study in the Orthogeriatrics Unit of a second-level hospital after implementing multidisciplinary clinical guidelines for hip fracture care. We analyzed patients’ baseline characteristics and the variations observed in care provided and in outcome variables in the two periods studied (June 2015–May 2016 and June 2016–May 2017). ResultsThe baseline characteristics of the population were similar in the pre-intervention period (n = 455) compared to the post-intervention period (n = 456). Patients’ mean age was 84.8 ± 6.8 years and 70.8% were women. The implementation of the multidisciplinary clinical guidelines led to a reduction in the mean length of hospital stay (16.9 days vs. 15.6 days, p= .014); improved osteoporosis treatment prescribing (51.6% vs. 88%, p< .001); and reduced episodes of delirium (44% vs. 31.2%, p < .001), bronchospasm (18.3% vs. 12%, p = .019), heart failure (20% vs. 11.5%, p < .001), and COPD exacerbation (7.9% vs. 3.8%, P = .017). We observed an increase in pressure ulcers at discharge (2.9 vs. 9%, P < .001). There were no differences in the percentage of operations in less than 48 h (56% vs. 61.2% p = .64), hospital readmissions (6.9% vs. 5.9%, p = .51), or mortality (5.0% vs. 7.2%, p = .17). ConclusionsThe implementation of multidisciplinary clinical guidelines improved aspects of the care process for patients with hip fracture.