Session Information
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
Session Title: General Rehabilitation Research Report & Practice Management and Leadership Case Report
Session Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 2
Disclosures: Nadia N. Zaman, DO: Nothing to disclose
Objective: To evaluate whether the start of an early and frequent mobilization (EM) program with physical therapy (PT) after surgery for head and neck cancers led to greater functional improvement in gait and increased rates of discharges to home, rather than to an inpatient rehabilitation or subacute nursing facility.
Design: Retrospective chart review.
Setting: Tertiary care academic hospital.
Participants: N=267 patients total; N=180 in pre-EM (2012-2014), N=87 in post-EM group (2016-2017). Mean age 63.7 years; 40.8% female. N=119 (66%) received PT in pre-EM group, N=62 (71.3%) in post-EM group.
Interventions: Early and frequent ambulation with PT, initiated within 3 days of surgery and continued throughout the course of hospitalization for two or more sessions.
Main Outcome Measures: Change in Functional Independence Measure (FIM) gait score from initial and last PT session (1 = totally dependent, 7 = completely independent); length of stay (LOS); discharge disposition, home versus inpatient rehabilitation/subacute nursing facility.
Results: Patients in the post-EM group received more sessions of PT than those in the pre-EM (P=.031). More patients in the post-EM vs. pre-EM group had improved FIM gait scores (66.1% vs. 42.7%, P = .006). The odds ratio of improvement in FIM gait post-EM was 2.30 higher than pre-EM. The number of patients discharged home was higher in post-EM (72/87, 82.8%) than pre-EM (125/180, 69.4%) (P = .046). LOS was not significantly different between the groups (P = .074).
Conclusions: Although there was no statistically significant change in LOS, the start of an early and frequent mobilization program for patients who were hospitalized after surgery for head and neck cancer led to improvement in FIM gait scores and higher rates of discharge home.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Zaman NN, Jameson C, Maltser S. Early Mobilization in Post-operative Head and Neck Cancer Patients Improves Functional Outcomes [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/early-mobilization-in-post-operative-head-and-neck-cancer-patients-improves-functional-outcomes/. Accessed May 22, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/early-mobilization-in-post-operative-head-and-neck-cancer-patients-improves-functional-outcomes/