PUSH Plus Protein Pilot for Hip Fracture Patients

A pilot study including 20 older adults who have experienced a hip fracture will be carried out with participants receiving a specific multi-component intervention with protein supplementation (PUSH Plus Protein). Study activities for participants meeting eligibility criteria will take place after post-acute rehabilitation ends, up to 26 weeks after admission to the hospital for hip fracture. Patients age 60 and older who have had surgical repair for hip fracture will be identified in study hospitals or by self-referral and evaluated for eligibility. Following consent to participate, eligible participants will undergo a comprehensive baseline assessment. Participants completing the entire baseline assessment will be eligible to receive the intervention. All participants will receive the PUSH Plus Protein intervention. The follow-up assessment will occur after the intervention is completed, approximately 16 weeks after baseline testing. The primary endpoint will be measured using the Six-Minute Walk Test (SMWT). Participants in this pilot will receive the same specific multi-component 16-week intervention, PUSH, as participants in the multi-site randomized controlled trial, "Improving Community Ambulation after Hip Fracture (CAP)" (NCT01783704). The purpose of this study is to test whether adding a protein supplement to the PUSH intervention (PUSH Plus Protein) leads to greater improvement in a person's ability to walk in their own home and in the local community compared to the PUSH intervention alone; therefore, data in this pilot study will be compared to data from participants in the CAP study across the three sites who received the PUSH intervention alone (n=105). The working hypothesis is that PUSH Plus Protein will lead to greater improvements in ability to walk in the community compared to PUSH. Investigators will also compare the effect of PUSH Plus Protein intervention to PUSH intervention alone on secondary outcomes in the CAP study believed to be precursors to community ambulation as shown in Aim 2 below. Investigators can also compare participants in the pilot study to participants who received PUSH alone in the ancillary study to CAP, "Mechanistic Pathways to Community Ambulation (CAP-MP)" (n=19) to examine whether PUSH Plus Protein has an impact on the mechanistic factors on the pathway to recovery of ambulatory ability after hip fracture (Aim 3). Aim 1. To test whether PUSH Plus Protein intervention improves community ambulation (as measured by distance walked in six minutes) compared to PUSH intervention alone (from CAP parent study) at the end of 16 weeks. Aim 2. To assess the effects of PUSH Plus Protein on precursors to community ambulation compared to the PUSH intervention alone (CAP study). To determine the effects of PUSH Plus Protein intervention, compared to PUSH, on several other outcomes in CAP including activities of daily living (ADLs), quality of life, lower-extremity physical performance, increase of ≥ 50 meters in distance walked in six minutes, cognitive status, and nutritional status. Aim 3. To determine the effects of PUSH Plus Protein intervention on the mechanistic factors compared to PUSH intervention alone (CAP-MP ancillary study). To determine if, at the end of the 16 week intervention, participants in the PUSH Plus Protein intervention, compared to PUSH alone, have: a) greater muscle volume and attenuation (i.e., reduced intra-muscular fat) of the thigh; b) greater lower extremity strength; c) better gait parameters; d) greater bone mineral density and bone strength; e) more bone formation and less bone resorption; and f) lower levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines. Aim 4. To determine safety and tolerability of delivering the PUSH Plus Protein intervention to hip fracture patients. This pilot study will be used to estimate the sample size requirements for a more definitive study.