Not Yet RecruitingNot Applicable

Rehabilitation in the Home After Hip Fracture

Australia220 participantsStarted 2025-06-01

Plain-language summary

Hip fractures are common, especially in older adults, and they can have a big impact on health and quality of life. In Australia, hip fractures are a significant healthcare challenge. After surgery, patients often need rehabilitation to regain mobility, but this usually involves long hospital stays. The RITH4Hips trial will determine if a program where patients receive rehabilitation at home (instead of in the hospital) is similar to conventional inpatient rehabilitation. Objectives: The main goal of this study is to find out if rehabilitation at home after surgery for a hip fracture works as well as rehabilitation in the hospital. The investigators also want to see if the home rehabilitation program can reduce the time spent in a hospital bed and improve other aspects like quality of life, mobility, and pain management. Methods: This study will involve older adults who have had surgery due to a low-trauma hip fracture. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the usual care inpatient rehabilitation or the Rehabilitation in the Home (RITH) program. The investigators will measure outcomes such as how well patients can move, how much pain they experience, how their quality of life improves, and how much time they spend in the hospital. Expected Outcomes: The investigators expect that the home rehabilitation program will be just similar to inpatient rehabilitation in helping patients recover mobility. The investigators also hope to find that it will reduce the time patients spend in a hospital bed, improve their quality of life, reduce fear of falling, and lessen the burden on carers. Additionally, the investigators aim to show that the home program is more cost-effective than hospital-based rehabilitation.

Who can participate

Age range50 Years

SexALL

See this in plain English?

AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.

Inclusion Criteria: * Community-dwelling adults ages ≥ 50 years presenting to Liverpool hospital or Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital with a low-trauma (osteoporotic) hip fracture who undergo surgical management * Anticipated to return to community (private) residence * Permitted to weight-bear as tolerated post-surgery * Suitable for inpatient rehabilitation (i.e., requires multidisciplinary rehabilitation, is considered cognitively suitable by the MDT to participate in the rehabilitation program being examined, and would otherwise be admitted to inpatient rehabilitation) * The presence of a carer, if required for mobility or function, is necessary at the time of transfer to the community. The carer must be prepared to manage the patient within 3 days post-randomisation. This time frame is considered necessary as carers will not be able to complete all required preparations before randomisation, and allowing an extended preparation period could bias the length of physical ward bed stay for the RITH group * Suitable environment for home-based rehabilitation as assessed by the MDT as per usual practice Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of a concomitant condition that precludes actively participating in a rehabilitation program at home * Residential location outside the Bankstown-Canterbury, Liverpool, and Fairfield Local Government Areas * Active end-of-life management or palliative care * Previously participated in the HITH4Hips or RITH4Hips trials

What they're measuring

De Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI)

Timeframe: At 1 to 3 days following discharge from the rehabilitation program (an average of 14 days after admission to rehabilitation) and at 6 weeks after initial admission.

Trial details

NCT IDNCT06980129

SponsorSouth West Sydney Local Health District

Sponsor typeOTHER

Study typeINTERVENTIONAL

Primary completion2027-07-31

Contact for this trial

Thuy Anh Bui, BSC, GradCert Higher Ed, PhD

+61 02 8738 9254 ThuyAnh.Bui@health.nsw.gov.au