An m-Health telerehabilitation and health education program on physical performance in patients with hip fracture and their family caregivers: Study protocol for the ActiveHip+ randomized controlled trial.

Telerehabilitation interventions administered via a smartphone may provide new feasible and effective rehabilitation options at home for patients with hip fracture. However, to date, no such interventions have been shown to be effective in the recovery key health outcomes of these patients. The present multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) aims to test the effect of the ActiveHip+ m-Health system in the recovery of physical performance, functional level, quality of life, and other health-related outcomes in both patients with hip fracture and their family caregivers. A total of 104 patients older than 65 years, with hip fracture, and their family caregivers will be randomized into the ActiveHip+ rehabilitation (N = 52) or the control group (N = 52). ActiveHip+ is a 12-week smartphone-based rehabilitation program conducted in Granada and Cádiz (Spain) that includes: (1) 24 sessions of physical exercise and 12 sessions of occupational therapy; (2) seven educational modules for patients and for caregivers; and (3) general recommendations in activities of daily living. The control group will receive the usual rehabilitation protocol offered by the Andalusian Public Healthcare System. The primary outcome is the patient's physical performance, while the secondary outcomes are the patient's functional level, quality of life, pain, fear of falling, fitness perception, pre-fracture functional level, emotional status, and caregiver burden. The present project will substantially contribute to the existing knowledge by testing for the first time the efficacy and feasibility of a multidisciplinary m-Health system in the rehabilitation of patients with hip fracture.

A New Tool for Assessment of Professional Skills of Occupational Therapy Students.

The assessment of the acquisition of professional skills is an essential process in occupational therapy students. Until now, there has been no standardized and validated instrument for evaluating these skills in Spanish occupational therapy students. This study reports the development and testing of the psychometric properties of the professional skills in students of occupational therapy during their practical training. METHODS: A new instrument was developed to assess the professional skills of occupational therapy students, called CPTO. A total of 69 occupational therapists participated in evaluating 295 occupational therapy students from the University of Granada, between the 2018 and 2021 academic years. RESULTS: Of a total of 79 items, the factor analysis yielded a final solution of 33 items, which explains 70.22% of the variance with the following three dimensions: (1) self-appraisal and professional responsibility (α = 0.951); (2) communication skills and delivering intervention (α = 0.944); and (3) clinical reasoning for assessing and planning the intervention (α = 0.947). The instrument allows students with low, medium, high and excellent clinical skills to be differentiated according to the cutting points established by the quartiles. CONCLUSION: the instrument has good psychometric properties, and is a useful tool to assess professional competencies in occupational therapy students during their practice placement education.