Predicting results of rehabilitation after hip fracture. A ten-year follow-up study.

Data influencing the outcome of rehabilitation after hip fracture were obtained from 103 consecutive patients. All were admitted from their own homes and were observed at the time of discharge from the hospital and at three weeks, four months, one year, five years, and ten years postfracture. Background and functional variables were recorded and analyzed by means of multivariate discriminant statistical techniques. The three most important variables for discharge to home were (1) the ability to walk two weeks after surgery, (2) living with someone, and (3) good general health. From four months until ten years postfracture, the most persistent positive variable for returning to and living at home was an active prefracture lifestyle. The most persistent negative variable was old age. By means of prognostic schemes, it is possible, as early as the time of fracture or a few days after surgery, to make a reliable prediction as to whether the patient will return home. Both the patient and society benefit from early rehabilitation at home in cooperation with primary care personnel and social workers, as it reduces the cost of the injury by avoiding a lengthy hospital stay and unnecessary institutional aftercare.