Introduction:

Hospitalization for acute illness in elderly patients may precipitate the appearance of hospital functional impairment (HFI). Due to its high frequency and the serious consequences derived, we analysed functional results in patients admitted to a Hospital at Home (HAH) unit.

Method:

Retrospective descriptive study of patients ≥ 80 years admitted to HAH. We collected sociodemographic characteristics, source of referral, previous hospital stay and HAH stay, clinical assessment and comorbidity. Functional status previous, at admission, at discharge and after 3 months was collected according to the Barthel index (BI). Short stays, palliative care, deaths, those with a previous BI <10, and readmissions as a reason for discharge were excluded.

Results:

168 patients ≥80 years old, 52.4% men, were included. 71.4% admitted from the emergency department. Institutionalized patients presented worse functional results. 40.5% presented functional loss (FL) at admission. At discharge, they improved 1.2%, remained 59.3% and worsened 39.4%. The FL at discharge is lower if the previous hospital stay is ≤ 2 days and the total stay <7 days. The use of bladder catheter is associated with a worse functional result at discharge and is maintained at 3 months.

Conclusions:

HAH can reduce HFI if the previous hospital stay is shortened.

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