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. 2025 Jun 21;11(1):87.
doi: 10.1186/s40814-025-01668-8.

Recovery from disability after geriatric-home rehabilitation versus standard of care: protocol for a pilot study in older persons with disability at hospital discharge

Bastiaan Van Grootven  1   2 , Margreet van Dijk  3 , Farah Islam  4   5 , Birgit Coucke  4 , Steffen Fieuws  6 , Gijs Van Pottelbergh  7 , Johan Flamaing  8   9 , Nele Van Den Noortgate  10 , Anja Velghe  10 , Anne-Marie De Cock  11 , Sophie Gillain  12 , Joris Meeuwissen  13 , Ivan Bautmans  14 , David Beckwée  14 , Marie de Saint-Hubert  15 , Jannique van Uffelen  16 , Didier Schoevaerdts  15 , Jos Tournoy  8   9 , Theo van Achterberg  4
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Recovery from disability after geriatric-home rehabilitation versus standard of care: protocol for a pilot study in older persons with disability at hospital discharge

Bastiaan Van Grootven et al. Pilot Feasibility Stud. .

Abstract

Background: Currently, there is insufficient evidence supporting geriatric home rehabilitation after hospital discharge. Some studies demonstrate a positive effect, but meta-analytic evidence demonstrates uncertainty on the magnitude of the expected effect. Yet, evidence from other populations indicates that home rehabilitation could also be an effective strategy for older persons. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of geriatric home rehabilitation in older persons discharged from the hospital with disability. Given the potential challenges in recruiting participants delivering the intervention, and executing other study procedures in a multi-centre study, we will first carry out a pilot study.

Methods: The pilot study will commence with an initial start-up phase at two centres: UZ Leuven and CHU UCL Namur, Belgium. Up to three participants per centre will be included to test the procedures and assessments, excluding randomisation and intervention delivery. The study then progresses to the full pilot phase to evaluate and confirm the feasibility of the proposed trial. This pilot study will take place at the same two centres. The pilot study aligns with the design of the envisioned full trial, i.e. a pragmatic, multicentre, individually randomised superiority trial. A 1 to 1 allocation ratio will be used for the pilot. A total of 24 participants from the two centres will be recruited to investigate the pilot study objectives. The pilot endpoints will be used to determine the feasibility of recruitment and study procedures including data collection, assessments and delivery of the intervention (a 6-week program consisting of exercise sessions 3 times per week, 45 min each). The results from the pilot study will be discussed within the pilot study steering group. Progression criteria will be reviewed to determine if the study progresses to a full trial, and which adaptations are needed.

Discussion: In case of a successful pilot, the study will progress to a full trial. The ambition of the full trial is to recruit 333 participants across 8 centres in Belgium, and to investigate the effectiveness of home rehabilitation for older persons discharged from the hospital with disability.

Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT06404138 on 08 May 2024.

Keywords: ADL; Activities of daily living; Disability; Geriatric; Physiotherapy; Pilot study; Rehabilitation; Trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee Research UZ/KU Leuven and from the Cliniques Universitaires U.C.L. de Mont-Godinne (ethics reference number: S65872). Informed consent will be obtained from all participants. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

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Study flowchart
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