Standing balance in hip fracture patients. 20 middle-aged patients compared with 20 healthy subjects.

Twenty hip fracture patients aged 50-64 years were compared with healthy, age- and sex-matched controls concerning balance capacity in standing and in walking. As a whole, the hip fracture patients had many concomitant diseases and low functional capacity. The patients studied did not differ from their controls as regards reported vision, hearing, and other characteristics. However, the patients deemed their balance to be worse and had a lower maximal walking speed than the controls. The patients also showed, in many aspects, more postural sway (i.e., lower balance capacity) on a computerized force platform especially when blindfolded. Patients with cervical fractures had less postural sway and smaller differences compared with their controls than when compared with the total group. About 2 years after the accident, hip fracture patients still perceived their balance to be more impaired, and showed more postural sway than the healthy controls. These factors may force us to emphasize more balance training after and, preferably, before the fracture.