Effects of the ActiveHip+ mHealth intervention on the recovery of older adults with hip fracture and their family caregivers

Mobile health (mHealth) systems are a promising alternative for rehabilitation of hip fracture, addressing limited healthcare resources.

In a multicentre open-label randomised controlled trial conducted across 3 hospitals in Andalusia (Spain), 110 patients older than 65 with a hip fracture, who were previously independent and lacked cognitive impairment were recruited with their caregivers. The intervention group underwent a 12-week health education and tele-rehabilitation programme through the ActiveHip + mHealth intervention. The primary outcome, physical performance, was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery at three time points: at hospital discharge (baseline), 3-month after surgery (post intervention) and 1-year after surgery follow-up.

The study found that ActiveHip+ may be effective to recover patients’ objectively measured physical performance and to reduce anxiety and pain, but may have no effects on functional status, depression, fear of falling and quality of life. With respect to caregivers, the intervention reduced their burden and depression, but not fear of falling, low back pain, quality of life and self-reported fitness. None of these effects persisted at the 1-year after surgery follow-up, suggesting that a 3-month intervention may have been insufficient to promote long-lasting behavioural changes.

According to the authors: ‘ActiveHip + mHealth intervention may be effective for recovering physical performance in older adults with hip fracture. Importantly, the implementation of ActiveHip + into daily clinical practice may be feasible and has already been adopted in 18 hospitals, mostly in Spain but also in Belgium and Portugal. Thus, ActiveHip + could offer a promising solution when rehabilitation resources are limited’.

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