Delphi consensus study reports recommendations for immediate postoperative weight-bearing in older hip fracture patients, indicating a pathway to bridge global implementation gaps.
Key Points
To establish evidence-informed recommendations supporting the safe and sustainable implementation of immediate weight-bearing as tolerated after hip fracture surgery in regions with low adoption rates.
A multidisciplinary Consensus Development Group consisting of 31 international experts across 15 countries synthesized the available clinical evidence.
The expert panel conducted a structured 3-round Delphi process using a predetermined consensus threshold of ≥2/3 to formalize and refine recommendations.
The panel established 13 consensus recommendations spanning four core clinical domains: shared decision-making, mobility-based stratification, multidisciplinary fall prevention and perioperative optimization, and stability-related triage.
The final consensus provides a pragmatic supportive-factor checklist to guide stepwise implementation adaptable to regional healthcare resource constraints.