Article

Many patients suffer long term loss of mobility after hip fracture but
there is no gold standard method for measuring mobility in this group. We aimed
to validate a new mobility outcome measure, the de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI)
in a hip fracture population during inpatient rehabilitation. METHOD: The DEMMI
was compared with the existing measures of activity limitation:
6 minute walk
test, 6 metre walk test and Barthel Index on 109 consecutive patients admitted to
rehabilitation after surgery for hip fracture. Patients were assessed by a
physiotherapist at admission and discharge. Scale width, validity, minimal
clinically important difference (MCID), responsiveness, and unidimensionality
were investigated. RESULTS: Evidence of convergent, discriminant and known groups
validity were obtained for the DEMMI. Responsiveness was similar across
instruments and the MCIDs were consistent with previous reports. A floor effect
was identified for the 6 metre walk test and 6 minute walk test at hospital
admission. Rasch analysis identified that the DEMMI maintains its unidimensional
properties in this population. CONCLUSIONS: The DEMMI has a broader scale width
than existing measures of activity limitation and provides a unidimensional
measure of mobility for hip fracture patients during inpatient rehabilitation.

Langue : ANGLAIS