Activities and impairments in the early stage of rehabilitation after Colles' fracture

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate problems in performing activities after Colles' fracture, and to correlate activity limitations with impairments in the early stage of rehabilitation. Method: Assessments were performed 1 and 5 weeks after removing plaster casts. A client-specific instrument, The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, and a disease-specific dichotomous scale of 10 activities of daily living were used. Range of motion, grip strength, pain and dexterity were also assessed according to standardized methods. Results: Thirty-three women, aged 51 - 87 years, with Colles' fracture treated with closed reduction and a plaster cast participated. Highly significant statistical and clinical improvements were found in the capacity, number and performance of activities. Problems were mainly classified as self-care activities at 1 week, and as productivity activities at 5 weeks, while problems in leisure activities were practically the same. However, one-third of the patients were not able to perform all basic activities of daily living at 5 weeks. Improvements in pain frequency, range of motion, grip strength and dexterity did not correlate very well with improvements in performance or the patients' satisfaction with the performance of their activities. Conclusions: The importance of assessing both impairments and activities in patients with Colles' fracture must be stressed.