Inpatient Post-Acute Rehabilitation For Patients in the Midwest: a Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical Characteristics and Process Outcomes

January 9, 2026 updated by: University of Limerick

Rehabilitation improves health outcomes, reduces disability and improves quality of life. There is a significant and emerging body of international evidence to support the benefit and cost effectiveness of specialist rehabilitation services within a modern health service. The demand for rehabilitation services is growing with changes in populations and with the advances in health care and new interventions and technology.

Our overall aim is to explore the outcomes and clinical characteristics of adults who are admitted to a rehabilitation hospital in the Midwest region of Ireland during admission, at the time of their discharge and at 6 months.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Rehabilitation is a dynamic and critical component of the therapeutic continuum and one that is essential if patients are to regain or maintain their life roles, health status and quality of life after serious illness or injury.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends in its definition that priority is given to ensure access, for those in need, to appropriate, timely, affordable and high-quality rehabilitation interventions.

Life expectancy is improving and the population of older persons is growing with increased demand for specialist rehabilitation services. This population is at increased risk for functional decline and increased demand for healthcare services. With older adults accounting for up to 24% of all ED attendees and an anticipated rise in this number, this places increased strain on the healthcare system

The aim of this study is to establish the demographic and clinical characteristics of adults in the Midwest referred, assessed and treated in St Ita's Rehabilitation Hospital in the Mid- West of lreland.

This study will inform on resource requirements of our rehabilitation facilities to ensure that the complexity of the patients are matched by the resources provided. We will also explore the benefits of rehabilitation across a broad range of conditions and evaluate the outcomes for patients including patient reported measures.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Ireland
    • Munster
      • Limerick, Munster, Ireland, V94 T9PX
        • Recruiting
        • School of Allied Health, University of Limerick
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Orla Holmes, MB, Bch, BAO

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All adults admitted to St Ita's Rehabilitation Hospital from February 2025 to February 2026 (inclusive) will be considered eligible for participation in the study, if they meet the inclusion criteria.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients aged 18 and over and admitted to a relevant rehabilitation unit with capacity to provide consent for inclusion.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant women and patients who are deemed not to have capacity to consent.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of functional decline
Time Frame: Baseline
The number of participants who experience functional decline or do not as measured by the Barthel Index (BI). Functional decline is defined as a net decrease in the number of activities of daily living performed independently as measured by the self-reported BI. The sum of all of the 10 subscales of the BI ranges from 0-20 points where a higher score indicates increased independence.
Baseline
Incidence of functional decline
Time Frame: From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
The number of participants who experience functional decline or do not as measured by the Barthel Index (BI). Functional decline is defined as a net decrease in the number of activities of daily living performed independently as measured by the self-reported BI. The sum of all of the 10 subscales of the BI ranges from 0-20 points where a higher score indicates increased independence.
From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
Incidence of Functional Decline
Time Frame: 6 Months
The number of participants who experience functional decline or do not as measured by the Barthel Index (BI). Functional decline is defined as a net decrease in the number of activities of daily living performed independently as measured by the self-reported BI. The sum of all of the 10 subscales of the BI ranges from 0-20 points where a higher score indicates increased independence.
6 Months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Healthcare use
Time Frame: 6 Months
Number of services that participants were in receipt of following discharge from rehabilitation services including; GP visits, unplanned Emergency Department attendance, Outpatient appointments.
6 Months
Polypharmacy level
Time Frame: Baseline
Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) and potentially omitted medications (POM) using the STOP START criteria. The STOPP/START Screening tools are based on the STOPP/START Prescription criteria which consist of a set of inappropriate combinations of medicines and disease (STOPP) and a set of recommended treatments for given conditions (START). There are 80 STOPP and 34 START criteria and they are grouped by physiological system e.g. cardiovascular.
Baseline
Polypharmacy level
Time Frame: From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) and potentially omitted medications (POM) using the STOP START criteria. The STOPP/START Screening tools are based on the STOPP/START Prescription criteria which consist of a set of inappropriate combinations of medicines and disease (STOPP) and a set of recommended treatments for given conditions (START). There are 80 STOPP and 34 START criteria and they are grouped by physiological system e.g. cardiovascular.
From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
Polypharmacy level
Time Frame: 6 Months
potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) and potentially omitted medications (POM) using the STOP START criteria. The STOPP/START Screening tools are based on the STOPP/START Prescription criteria which consist of a set of inappropriate combinations of medicines and disease (STOPP) and a set of recommended treatments for given conditions (START). There are 80 STOPP and 34 START criteria and they are grouped by physiological system e.g. cardiovascular.
6 Months
Frailty
Time Frame: From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
Participants will be reviewed at time of discharge from rehabilitation services as to level of frailty using both the clinical frailty scale (CFS) and the identification of seniors at risk (ISAR) frailty screening tools. Both the clinical frailty scale and identification of seniors at risk were recorded at admission and again at discharge to evaluate change in frailty status over the hospital stay. The combination of tools will aim to enable examination of how initial risk screening interacts with frailty status to influence long-term functional trajectories. Higher scores on both the clinical frailty scale and identification of seniors at risk indicate higher levels of frailty and are often associated with worse outcomes. The clinical frailty scale is a 9 point rating scale (1-9) with 9 indicating the highest level of frailty (terminally ill), the identification of seniors at risk is a 6 item screening tool with a score of 2 or greater indicating increased risk of frailty.
From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
Frailty
Time Frame: 6 months
Participants will be reviewed at time of discharge from rehabilitation services as to level of frailty using both the clinical frailty scale (CFS) and the identification of seniors at risk (ISAR) frailty screening tools. Both the Clinical frailty scale and Identification of seniors at risk were recorded at 6 month follow up to evaluate change in frailty status over the hospital stay. The combination of tools will aim to enable examination of how initial risk screening interacts with frailty status to influence long-term functional trajectories. Higher scores on both the clinical frailty scale and identification of seniors at risk indicate higher levels of frailty and are often associated with worse outcomes. The clinical frailty scale is a 9 point rating scale (1-9) with 9 indicating the highest level of frailty (terminally ill), the identification of seniors at risk is a 6 item screening tool with a score of 2 or greater indicating increased risk of frailty.
6 months
Quality of life (EuroQoL-5 dimension 5 level questionnaire)
Time Frame: Baseline
A questionnaire to evaluate participants health-related quality of life, assessing five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Higher scores indicate higher perception of health related quality of life. Index score (0-1) with 1 being the best and visual analogue scores (0-100) with 100 being the highest rating of overall health.
Baseline
Quality of life (EuroQoL-5 dimension 5 level questionnaire)
Time Frame: From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
A questionnaire to evaluate participants health-related quality of life, assessing five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Higher scores indicate higher perception of health related quality of life. Index score (0-1) with 1 being the best and visual analogue scores (0-100) with 100 being the highest rating of overall health.
From the date on inception into the study until the date of discharge from hospital, assessed up to 6 months
Quality of life (EuroQoL-5 dimension 5 level questionnaire)
Time Frame: 6 Months
A questionnaire to evaluate participants health-related quality of life, assessing five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Index score (0-1) with 1 being the best and visual analogue scores (0-100) with 100 being the highest rating of overall health.
6 Months
Nursing Home Admission
Time Frame: 6 Months
Number of participants who were admitted to a nursing home or residential care facility following discharge from rehabilitation services.
6 Months
Mortality
Time Frame: 6 Months
The number of participants who died following discharge from rehabilitation services.
6 Months
Falls
Time Frame: 6 Months
Number of falls sustained post discharge from rehabilitation services.
6 Months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Limerick

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 22, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 22, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 22, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 8, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 9, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0164

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Individual patient data collected during this study may be shared with approved researchers for the purpose of future research projects. Any data shared will be fully anonymised prior to release, with all direct and indirect identifiers removed to ensure that no participant can be identified. Only anonymised datasets will be made available, and these will be shared securely and solely for ethically approved research purposes.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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