Kj. Koval et al., AMBULATORY ABILITY AFTER HIP FRACTURE - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY IN GERIATRIC-PATIENTS, Clinical orthopaedics and related research, (310), 1995, pp. 150-159
Three hundred thirty-six community-dwelling, previously ambulatory, ge
riatric patients with hip fracture were observed prospectively to dete
rmine ambulatory ability at a minimum followup of 1 year. One hundred
thirty-seven (41%) patients maintained their prefracture ambulatory ab
ility at a minimum follow-up of 1 gear; 131(40%) patients remained amb
ulatory but became more dependent on assistive devices; 39 (12%) previ
ous community ambulators became household ambulators, and 26 (8%) pati
ents became nonfunctional ambulators. Analysis was performed to determ
ine which pre- and postinjury factors were predictive of failure to re
cover ambulatory capacity 1 year after fracture. Potential predictor v
ariables analyzed included age, gender, number of comorbid conditions,
prefracture ambulatory ability, prefracture living situation, fractur
e 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 Anesthesiolog
ists rating of operative risk, and fracture type to ambulatory recover
y.