Psychiatric illness and mortality after hip fracture

People with dementia or delirium have increased mortality in the 6 months a fter hip fracture, but depression might take longer to have an effect. We a ssessed the psychiatric status of 731 participants with hip fracture and an alysed the effect of psychiatric illness on mortality during the next 2 yea rs. We found that dementia, delirium, and depression ail increased the risk of mortality (p<0.0001, p<0.0001, and p=0.0359, respectively), and that mo rtality differed significantly between hospitals (p=0.0003). We suggest tha t psychiatric interventions should be assessed in hip-fracture patients wit h adequate follow up of outcome measures.