Age, prefracture ambulatory ability, ASA rating, and fracture type are significant predictors of ambulatory recovery 1 year after hip fracture in geriatric patients.
Three hundred thirty-six community-dwelling, previously ambulatory, geriatric patients with hip fracture were observed prospectively to determine ambulatory ability at a minimum follow up of 1 year. One hundred thirty-seven (41%) patients maintained their pre-fracture ambulatory ability at a minimum followup of 1 year; 134 (40%) patients remained ambulatory but became more dependent on assistive devices; 39 (12%) previous community ambulators became household ambulators, and 26 (8%) patients became nonfunctional ambulators. Analysis was performed to determine which pre- and postinjury factors were predictive of failure to recover ambulatory capacity 1 year after fracture. Potential predictor variables analyzed included age, gender, number of comorbid conditions, pre-fracture ambulatory ability, prefracture living situation, fracture type, American Society of Anesthesiologists rating of operative risk, type of surgery, and number of postoperative complications. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified significant contributions of age, prefracture ambulatory ability, American Society of Anesthesiologists rating of operative risk, and fracture type to ambulatory recovery.
Koval et al. (Sun,) studied this question.