Prognostic value of braden activity subscale for mobility status in hospitalized older adults

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the predictive value of the Activity subscale of the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk in assessing mobility impairment and recovery among hospitalized older adults. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: UF Health Shands Hospital, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. PATIENTS: 19,769 older adults (≥65 years) hospitalized between January 2009 and April 2014. MEASUREMENTS: Incident mobility impairment and recovery were assessed with the Braden Activity subscale (BAS) score that nurses use to grade patients at every shift change (~3 times/d). Posthospital mortality rate and discharge disposition were used to assess the prognostic value of the BAS. RESULTS: Of the 10,717 study patients observed “walking frequently” at admission, 2218 (20.7%) developed incident mobility impairment. Of the other 9052 study patients, who were impaired at admission, 4734 (52.3%) recovered to a state of walking occasionally or frequently. Older adults who developed mobility impairment during hospitalization had an odds of death higher than that of those who remained mobile (odds ratio [OR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.39). This effect predominately occurred within the first 6 follow-up months. Older adults who recovered from mobility impairment had an odds of death lower than that of those who did not recover mobility in the hospital (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.49-0.59). This effect was slightly stronger within the first 6 months after hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses’ BAS assessment of mobility status during hospitalization provides substantial prognostic value in hospitalized older adults. The BAS could be an efficient and valuable source of information about mobility status for targeting posthospital care of older adults.