Abstract
The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the types of patients who utilized the Easy Street facility and (2) compare the functional independence levels at discharge of patients who utilized Easy Street to that of patients who did not receive this treatment. This study utilized a retrospective chart review to collect data on a group of patients who were seen by physical therapy during a three-month period shortly after the introduction of Easy Street and on a second group of patients who were seen the previous year prior to its introduction. Controlling for length of stay, it was anticipated that patients who utilized Easy Street as part of their treatment protocol would demonstrate higher levels of independence upon discharge as measured by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) than would patients who did not utilize Easy Street as part of a therapeutic protocol. A total functional ability-score was calculated from five FIM items dealing with transfers and locomotion at admission and discharge from Baptist Hospital for control and treatment groups. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment and control groups in terms of age, gender and diagnosis. After controlling for age, length of hospital stay and baseline functional ability scores, the treatment group had a higher functional ability score than the control group (66.4 vs. 58.8) and this difference was statistically significant