Ava Staudt
March 17, 2025
A recent study by associate professors of practice at The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (HRS) found a link between physical function and hospital readmission risk among adults over 50. Lead study author Erin Thomas, PT, DPT, and study co-author Marka Gehrig Salsberry, PT, DPT, collaborated with partners nationwide to conduct a systematic review of 17 studies with more than 80,000 hospitalized patients between 2012 and 2022.
The study looked at patients’ physical functions such as gait, grip strength, activities of daily living (ADLs) and timed up and go (TUG), a common fall risk assessment, say Drs. Thomas and Gehrig Salsberry. These tests were evaluated in relation to hospital readmission 30, 60 and 90 days out. The wide range of measures showed that physical function at discharge is associated with readmission risk, they say.
National data shows the need to intervene with such patients before they leave the hospital is critical, says the HRS faculty members. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 17% of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States returned to the hospital within 30 days of discharge between 2016 and 2020, posing burdens on health care systems and patients, alike.
“As a physical therapist who still practices in the clinic, I see this often,” says Dr. Gehrig Salsberry, “[particularly among] those patients that are lower in the physical function realm, and the reoccurring readmissions that are associated.” Dr. Gehrig Salsberry, who is also director of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Acute Care PT Residency, notes that the study provides opportunities for hospitals to identify patients’ physical impairments early on and intervene.
The next step to advance this effort is to develop clinical practice guidelines for discharge transitions using an interprofessional approach. How mobility looks across the entire health care team can determine a patient’s readmission risk, and potentially their long-term outcome, Dr. Thomas says.
“That's where the complexity comes in, is looking through the lens from all the different healthcare professionals to look at physical function and what plays into that,” she says.
Drs. Thomas and Gehrig Salsberry are both members of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)’s Acute Care Academy, which issued a call for the study as part of its mission to foster excellence in acute care practice and enhance the health and functioning of patients and clients.
This study was supported by APTA funding and a grant from the National Institute on Aging, and included co-authors from the Universities of Colorado, Connecticut and Maryland, Intermountain Health in Utah and Washington Hospital Healthcare System in California.