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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Impacts of tailored, rehabilitation nursing care on functional ability and quality of life in hospitalized elderly patients after rib fractures

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Objectives: We aimed to analyze the effects of a tailored rehabilitation nursing care program on functional ability and quality of life in patients with conservative treatment for rib fractures. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Subjects: Rib fracture patients treated conservatively were randomized into two groups (experimental and control group). Interventions: Patients in control group received Treatment as Usual (TAU) and patients included in experimental group received TAU and an added tailored rehabilitation nursing care program (RNT). Main measures: At baseline, and end of hospitalization treatment, the functional ability was assessed with the Barthel Index, and the quality of life was evaluated with the EuroQol-5D. Additionally, the outcomes were assessed at six-month follow-up. Results: A total of 80 patients were included in the study, whose mean age was 77.19 SD 7.71 in the RNT group and 75.55 SD 9.46 in the TAU group. Our data showed a significant difference in the post-treatment gains in overall quality of life (74.25 SD 20.62 vs 60.28 SD 20.54), and functional ability (71.79 SD 23.85 vs 69.41 SD 24.30) between the RNT group and the TAU group ( P < 0.05). Compared to the TAU group, the RNT group also showed a significant improvement in functional ability and quality of life at six-month follow-up. Conclusions: A tailored rehabilitation nursing care program added to the conservative treatment during hospitalization can improve the functional ability and quality of life of patients after rib fractures at discharge and at six-month follow-up. Trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov Identifier: NCT04168996