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Activities of daily living decrease similarly in hospital-treated patients with a hip fracture or a vertebral fracture: a one-year prospective study in 151 patients

Department of Orthopaedics, Hässleholm Hospital, Hässleholm, Sweden

Gun-Britt Jarnlo

Department of Physical Therapy, University Hospital Lund, Lund, Sweden

Ewald Ornstein

Department of Orthopaedics, Hässleholm Hospital, Hässleholm, Sweden

Magnus K. Karlsson

Department of Orthopaedics, University Hospital MAS, Malmö, Sweden, magnus.karlsson{at}orto.mas.lu.se

Aims: A hip fracture is commonly regarded as the most devastating fragility fracture, as regards both morbidity and mortality, while a vertebral fracture is usually regarded as having lower general morbidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether hospitalized patients with a hip or a vertebral fracture experience similar functional deterioration following the fracture as regards activity of daily living (ADL) and experienced quality of life (QOL). Methods: Eighty-seven women and 22 men, mean age 81 (range 66 - 96), with a hip fracture and 34 women and 8 men, mean age 81 (range 68 - 92), with a vertebral fracture were followed up for 12 months. ADL before fracture and at 4 and 12 months after the fracture were evaluated as well as QOL at 4 and 12 months after the fracture, by questionnaires. Results: A hip and a vertebral fracture in community dwellers within the same age range confers a similar decrease in ADL during the four months following the fracture. No restoration was seen in ADL or total QOL during the year following the fracture. Patients with a vertebral fracture had a lower QOL than patients with a hip fracture 4 and 12 months after the fracture. Conclusion: The need for external community assistance for patients with a vertebral fracture that forces them to have hospital treatment may be similar to the need following a hip fracture.

Key Words: ADL • fracture • hip • QOL • vertebrae.

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 32, No. 5, 356-360 (2004)
DOI: 10.1080/14034940410026912


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