Assessment of readiness for discharge of patients after hip alloplasty - a preliminary report

Aim
The aim of the study is to assess the discharge readiness of patients following hip joint arthroplasty.

Material and methods
The study was conducted among a group of 43 patients from the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in Gdańsk. The majority of respondents were women and city dwellers. The average age of patients was approximately 70 years. The study utilised a diagnostic survey method and a questionnaire technique. The research tool was a questionnaire consisting of original questions and the C-HOBIC scale. In the statistical analysis, the Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Spearman's rho correlation were used. The level of significance was set at p≤0.05.

Results
According to the majority of respondents, the health education provided in the ward was fully comprehensive. Patients rated their knowledge about who they could turn to for help with daily activities the highest. The lowest self-care ability rating concerned independent mobility and performing daily living activities. It was found that patients' readiness for discharge from hospital decreased with age. The higher the education level of the patients, the better their preparedness for discharge. Patients admitted on an elective basis rated their readiness for self-care higher compared to those hospitalised on an emergency basis.

Conclusions
Factors significantly determining discharge readiness included age, education, and the family situation of the patients. A significant influence was found of the mode of hospital admission and satisfaction with the health education provided in the ward on the patients’ preparedness for self-care.