OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to evaluate whether occupational therapy (OT) improves activities of daily living (ADL) and overall physical functioning of patients after hip fracture surgery (HFS). PubMed-Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. We searched for randomized controlled trials comparing OT with comprehensive postoperative care (without OT) after HFS. A pairwise meta-analysis using fixed- and random-effects models was performed. The primary outcome of interest was performance of ADL assessed in any manner. The secondary outcomes were other functional parameters: (1) physical function; (2) health perception and emotion; and (3) fall occurrence. Effect sizes were computed as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials including a total of 524 participants were retrieved. There was a trend towards improvement in ADL, physical function, and fall occurrence, these changes were not significant. However, health perception and patient emotions improved significantly in the OT group (SMD 0.391; 95% CI 0.104 to 0.678; p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: OT after HFS seems to improve overall function. Indeed, the positive effects of OT on health perception and emotions were evident. Therefore, OT can be suggested in comprehensive rehabilitation programs after HFS.

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