Abstract
Although it is known that overall mortality is increased after hip fracture, the influence of hip fracture risk factors on the subsequent mortality and cause of death has not been well studied. The objective of this study was to establish the survival after hip fracture in women and to assess the impact of comorbidity on mortality. We identified a complete population-based set of 2,245 incident hip fracture cases and 4,035 randomly selected population-based controls among women 50–81 years old in Sweden and followed these subjects for an average of 5 years through the Swedish National Inpatient and Cause-of-Death Registers. Information on factors related to hip fracture was obtained through linkage to hospital discharge data and through a mailed questionnaire. We studied excess mortality of hip fracture patients compared to controls using survival curves and proportional hazard regression models. During follow-up, 896 hip fracture patients (40%) and 516 (13%) controls died. The relative risk (RR) of death, adjusted for age and previous hospitalization for serious disease, was 2.3 (95% CI 2.0–2.5). Although the highest mortality risks were in the 1st 6 months post-fracture, RRs for fractures versus controls were increased for at least 6 years. Increased mortality was apparent both in those with evidence of comorbidity and those without. Hip fracture patients have a substantially increased risk of death that persists for at least 6 years post-fracture. The relative excess mortality is independent of comorbidity and known hip fracture risk factors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wolinsky FD, Fitzgerald JF, Stump TE (1997) The effect of hip fracture on mortality, hospitalization, and functional status: a prospective study. Am J Public Health 87:398–403
Gordon PC (1971) The probability of death following a fracture of the hip. Can Med Assoc J 105:47–51
Boereboom FT, Raymakers JA, Duursma SA (1992) Mortality and causes of death after hip fractures in The Netherlands. Neth J Med 41:4–10
Jacobsen SJ, Goldberg J, Miles TP, Brody JA, Stiers W, Rimm AA (1992) Race and sex differences in mortality following fracture of the hip. Am J Public Health 82:1147–1150
White BL, Fisher WD, Laurin CA (1987) Rate of mortality for elderly patients after fracture of the hip in the 1980s. J Bone Joint Surg [Am] 69:1335–1340
Keene GS, Parker MJ, Pryor GA (1993) Mortality and morbidity after hip fractures. BMJ 307:1248–1250
Cree M, Soskolne CL, Belseck E, Hornig J, McElhaney JE, Brant R, Suarez-Almazor M (2000) Mortality and institutionalization following hip fracture. J Am Geriatr Soc 48:283–288
Fisher ES, Baron JA, Malenka DJ, Barrett JA, Kniffin WD, Whaley FS, Bubolz TA (1991) Hip fracture incidence and mortality in New England. Epidemiology 2:116–122
Elmerson S, Zetterberg C, Andersson GB (1988) Ten-year survival after fractures of the proximal end of the femur. Gerontology 34:186–191
Forsen L, Sogaard AJ, Meyer HE, Edna T, Kopjar B (1999) Survival after hip fracture: short- and long-term excess mortality according to age and gender. Osteoporos Int 10:73–78
Browner WS, Pressman AR, Nevitt MC, Cummings SR (1996) Mortality following fractures in older women. The study of osteoporotic fractures. Arch Intern Med 156:1521–1525
Cauley JA, Thompson DE, Ensrud KC, Scott JC, Black D (2000) Risk of mortality following clinical fractures. Osteoporos Int 11:556–561
Center JR, Nguyen TV, Schneider D, Sambrook PN, Eisman JA (1999) Mortality after all major types of osteoporotic fracture in men and women: an observational study [see comments]. Lancet 353:878–882
Katelaris AG, Cumming RG (1996) Health status before and mortality after hip fracture. Am J Public Health 86:557–560
Koike Y, Imaizumi H, Takahashi E, Matsubara Y, Komatsu H (1999) Determining factors of mortality in the elderly with hip fractures. Tohoku J Exp Med 188:139–142
Magaziner J, Lydick E, Hawkes W, Fox KM, Zimmerman SI, Epstein RS, Hebel JR (1997) Excess mortality attributable to hip fracture in white women aged 70 years and older. Am J Public Health 87:1630–1636
Parker MJ, Anand JK (1991) What is the true mortality of hip fractures? Public Health 105:443–446
Weiss NS, Liff JM, Ure CL, Ballard JH, Abbott GH, Daling JR (1983) Mortality in women following hip fracture. J Chronic Dis 36:879–882
Poor G, Atkinson EJ, O’Fallon WM, Melton LJ 3rd (1995) Determinants of reduced survival following hip fractures in men. Clin Orthop 319:260–265
Barrett JA, Baron JA, Beach ML (2003) Mortality and pulmonary embolism after fracture in the elderly. Osteoporos Int 14:889–894
Johnell O, Kanis JA, Oden A, Sernbo I, Redlund-Johnell I, Petterson C, De Laet C, Jonsson B (2004) Mortality after osteoporotic fractures. Osteoporos Int 15:38–42
Empana JP, Dargent-Molina P, Breart G (2004) Effect of hip fracture on mortality in elderly women: The EPIDOS Prospective Study. J Am Geriatr Soc 52:685–690
Pitto RP (1994) The mortality and social prognosis of hip fractures: a prospective multifactorial study. Int Orthop 18:109–113
Schroder HM, Erlandsen M (1993) Age and sex as determinants of mortality after hip fracture: 3,895 patients followed for 2.5–18.5 years. J Orthop Trauma 7:525–531
Meyer HE, Tverdal A, Falch JA, Pedersen JI (2000) Factors associated with mortality after hip fracture. Osteoporos Int 11:228–232
Farahmand BY, Persson PG, Michaelsson K, Baron JA, Parker MG, Ljunghall S (2000) Socioeconomic status, marital status and hip fracture risk: a population-based case-control study. Osteoporos Int 11:803–808
Johansson C, Black D, Johnell O, Oden A, Mellstrom D (1998) Bone mineral density is a predictor of survival. Calcif Tissue Int 63:190–196
Holmberg S, Conradi P, Kalen R, Thorngren KG (1986) Mortality after cervical hip fracture. 3,002 patients followed for 6 years. Acta Orthop Scand 57:8–11
Browner WS, Seeley DG, Vogt TM, Cummings SR (1991) Non-trauma mortality in elderly women with low bone mineral density. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Lancet 338:355–358
Magaziner J, Simonsick EM, Kashner TM, Hebel JR, Kenzora JE (1989) Survival experience of aged hip fracture patients. Am J Public Health 79:274–278
Acknowledgements
We thank Professor Hans-Olov Adami, Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and also our research nurse, Lena Lindén, and interviewer, Birgit Wallander. This study was partially funded by grants from the Swedish Council for Social Research (project 93–0029), the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society and the US National Institute of Health (grant CA 58427).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The authors represent the Swedish Hip Fracture Study Group, whose members include Akke Alberts, John A. Baron, Thomas Dolk, Bahman Y. Farahmand, Olof Johnell, Lena Lindén, Sverker Ljunghall, Karl Michaëlsson, Gunnar Brobert, Karl-Göran Thorngren, Mats Thorslund, Carl Zetterberg and Lena Zidén.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Farahmand, B.Y., Michaëlsson, K., Ahlbom, A. et al. Survival after hip fracture. Osteoporos Int 16, 1583–1590 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-005-2024-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-005-2024-z