Admission Norton scale scores (ANSS) correlate with rehabilitation outcome and length in elderly patients following hip arthroplasty

We sought to determine if ANSS used for evaluating pressure sore risk also correlate with rehabilitation outcome and length following hip arthroplasty in elderly patients. This was a retrospective study conducted in a geriatric rehabilitation department during 2009. ANSS, admission albumin serum levels, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores, discharge walking functional independence measure (FIM) scores, and rehabilitation length were studied. The final cohort included 201 patients: 160 (79.6%) females and 41 (20.4%) males. Mean age was 82.7 ± 6.5 years. Mean discharge walking FIM score was 5.2 ± 0.9. Mean length of rehabilitation was 19.9 ± 7.8 days. ANSS correlated with discharge walking FIM scores (r= 0.28; p= 0.002), and with length of rehabilitation (r= -0.22; p= 0.014) following adjustment for age, admission albumin serum levels, and MMSE scores. Linear regression analysis showed that ANSS were associated with the discharge walking FIM scores (p< 0.0001) and rehabilitation length (p= 0.027) independent of age, admission albumin serum levels, gender, type of hip surgery, and the appearance of pressure sores. We conclude that the Norton scoring system may be used for predicting the outcome and the duration of rehabilitation in elderly patients following hip arthroplasty.