Appropriate use of inpatient physical therapy services is important for preventing hospital-associated disability (HAD). We assessed potential overutilization of physical therapy consults on hospital medicine services using the Activity Measure-Post Acute Care (AM-PAC) score. Our sample included 3592 unique admissions (mean age, 66 years; 48% women) at a large academic medical center. Based on an AM-PAC cutoff of >43.63 (raw score, 18) in patients who were discharged to home, 38% of physical therapy consults were considered “potential overutilization.” Combined with age <65 years, 18% of consults remained “potential overutilization.” After adjustment for age, sex, and length of stay, patients admitted with high mobility scores were 5.38 times more likely to be discharged to home (95% CI, 4.36-2.89) compared with those with low mobility scores. Being more judicious with physical therapy consults and reserving skilled therapy for at-risk patients could help prevent HAD while also having a positive impact on healthcare systems.

适当使用住院物理治疗服务对于预防医院相关残疾 (HAD) 很重要。我们使用 Activity Measure-Post Acute Care (AM-PAC) 评分评估了物理治疗咨询对医院医疗服务的潜在过度利用。我们的样本包括大型学术医疗中心的 3592 名独特住院患者（平均年龄 66 岁；48% 为女性）。根据出院回家患者的 AM-PAC 截断值 >43.63（原始评分，18），38% 的物理治疗咨询被认为是“潜在的过度使用”。结合年龄 <65 岁，18% 的咨询仍然是“潜在的过度使用”。对年龄、性别和住院时间进行调整后，活动能力评分高的入院患者出院回家的可能性是其他患者的 5.38 倍 (95% CI, 4.36-2. 89) 与流动性分数较低的人相比。更明智地进行物理治疗咨询并为高危患者保留熟练的治疗可以帮助预防 HAD，同时也对医疗保健系统产生积极影响。