Nutritional supplementation of elderly hip fracture patients. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: undernourishment is common in elderly hip fracture patients and has been linked to poorer recovery and increased post-operative complicati ons. Objective: to determine whether a nutritional supplement map (i) help elder ly patients return to pre-fracture functional levels 6 months post-fracture and (ii) decrease fracture-related complications and mortality. Design a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Setting a county hospital near Barcelona. Subjects 171 patients, aged 70 and older, hospitalized for hip fracture bet ween July 1994 and July 1996. Methods: we randomized patients to intervention (n = 85) or control (n = 86 ) group. Patients received a nutritional supplement containing 20 g of prot ein and 800 mg of calcium or placebo for 60 days. We determined functional levels by the Barthel index, the mobility index and by the use of walking a ids. We performed assessments during hospitalization and at 2 and 6 months post-fracture. Findings: the two groups were comparable at study entry. We observed no dif ferences in return to functional status 6 months post-fracture (61% interve ntion group vs 55% in control group) nor in fracture-related mortality (13% in intervention group vs 10%; in control group). The intervention group su ffered fewer in-hospital [odds ratio 1.88 (95% CI 1.01-3.53), P = 0.05] and total complications [odds ratio 1.94 (95% CI 1.02-3.7), P = 0.04] than the control group. Conclusion based on our results, we cannot recommend routine nutritional su pplementation of all elderly hip fracture patients. While nutritional suppl ementation may be useful in decreasing complications, this reduction does n ot result in improvement in functional recovery and nor does it decrease fr acture-related mortality. Selected patients may, however, benefit from nutr itional supplementation.