The Impact Of Admission To Hospital On Future Mobility. An Analysis of Data From A Large Longitudinal Study On Aging

Abstract Background While working with older people we regularly see an acute deterioration in mobility when they are unwell and admitted to hospital. On a review of the literature we found that there were few studies into the longer-term impact of hospitalisation on mobility. We set out to analyse the effect of hospitalisation on future mobility by looking at a cohort of participants in a large longitudinal study on aging. Methods Our study cohort was 2,482 participants aged over seventy, 54 per cent were female. Baseline mobility assessment was at Wave 2 with follow-up at Wave 3 (2 years later). Mobility was assessed with Timed Up and Go (TUG) at Wave 2 and Wave 3. We defined impaired mobility as a Timed Up and Go of greater than 14 seconds. We examined the association of hospital admission (using linear regression with TUG at Wave 3 as dependant variable) at Wave 2 with future mobility (TUG) at Wave 3, adjusting for covariates. We adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, baseline TUG (i.e. at Wave 2) and polypharmacy. Results Participants who reported hospital admission at Wave 2 had a significantly longer TUG when assessed at Wave 3. In adjusted models, hospital admission at baseline was associated with a significantly longer TUG at follow-up (beta-coefficient 1.04 (95 per cent Confidence Interval (CI) 0.05 – 2.05); p = 0.039). In further adjusted models, hospital admission was associated with a 28 per cent increase in the likelihood of mobility problems at 2 year follow-up. Conclusion Hospital admission is associated with poorer performance on future mobility assessments. It is therefore important that we look at strategies to prevent hospitalisation and also to prevent hospital-associated functional decline and deconditioning.