Why the study?
What is the incidence of medical complications and their impact on hospital stay and costs in elderly patients with hip fractures?
What is the incidence of medical complications and their impact on hospital stay and costs in elderly patients with hip fractures?
Medical complications in elderly patients with hip fractures are common (43%) and significantly increase hospital length of stay and costs.
Complications were associated with doubled stays and costs in elderly hip fracture patients; hypothesis-generating for prevention trials.
The records of 510 elderly patients with hip fractures admitted to our institution between January 1995 and December 2000 were retrospectively reviewed to determine the incidence and type of developed medical complications and their economic implications. Of those 510 patients, 217 (43%) developed at least 1 medical complication, most frequently electrolyte imbalance (11%), urinary tract infection (10%), respiratory failure (10%), and delirium (9%). Patients who developed medical complications had significantly longer mean hospital stays (10 days) and higher mean hospital costs ($16,203) than patients without such complications (5 days and $10,284, respectively) (P<.001).
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Khasraghi et al. (2003) studied this question.
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