A study from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, has concluded that patients who underwent dysvascular lower-limb amputation and received post-acute care at an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) had better functional outcomes six months after amputation than if their post-acute care was in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) or at home.
Data from 297 patients was collected from medical records and patient interviews conducted during hospitalization after amputation and at six months after the acute-care discharge. The majority of patients received care in an IRF (43.4 percent), with 32 percent in an SNF, and 24.6 percent at home.
On the Short Form-36 subscales, significantly improved outcomes were observed for the patients receiving post-acute care at an IRF in physical function, role physical, and physical component summary scores.
In addition, patients receiving post-acute care in an IRF were significantly more likely to score in the top quartile for general health and less likely to score in the lowest quartile for physical function, role physical, physical component summary scores, and daily living impairment.
The study was published online on January 3 by the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
