Background: Mobile geriatric rehabilitation can be provided in the setting of nursing homes, short-term care (STC) facilities and exclusively in private homes.
Objective: This study analyzed the common features and differences of mobile rehabilitation interventions in various settings.
Material and methods: Stratified by setting 1,879 anonymized mobile geriatric rehabilitation treatments between 2011 and 2014 from 11 participating institutions were analyzed with respect to patient, process and outcome-related features.
Results: Significant differences between the settings nursing home (n = 514, 27 %), STC (n = 167, 9 %) and private homes (n = 1198, 64 %) were evident for mean age (83 years, 83 years and 80 years, respectively), percentage of women (72 %, 64 % and 55 %), degree of dependency on pre-existing care (92 %, 76 % and 64 %), total treatment sessions (TS, 38 TS, 42 TS and 41 TS), treatment duration (54 days, 61 days and 58 days) as well as the Barthel index at the start of rehabilitation (34 points, 39 points and 46 points) and the gain in the Barthel index (15 points, 21 points and 18 points), whereby the gain in the capacity for self-sufficiency was significant in all settings.
Conclusion: The setting-specific evaluation of mobile geriatric rehabilitation showed differences for relevant patient, process and outcome-related features. Compared to inpatient rehabilitation mobile rehabilitation in all settings made an above average contribution to the rehabilitation of patients with pre-existing dependency on care. The gains in the capacity for self-sufficiency achieved in all settings support the efficacy of mobile geriatric rehabilitation under the current prerequisites for applicability.
Keywords: Care recipients; Comparative study; Geriatrics; Health services research; Quality assurance, health care.