title: A functional recovery score for elderly hip fracture patients: II. Validity and reliability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess predictive and discriminant validity and responsiveness of the Functional Recovery Score, a disease-specific health assessment tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, consecutive.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred eighty-two elderly patients who sustained a hip fracture were prospectively followed and evaluated by using the Functional Recovery Score at three, six, and twelve months after surgery
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Functional Recovery Score (FRS) was found to be responsive to change: scores after hip fracture were significantly lower at three months than prefracture, increased significantly from three to six months, and increased slightly between six and twelve months after fracture, consistent with expectation. The FRS had predictive validity: prefracture scores were predictive of death, skilled nursing facility transfer, and rehospitalization within one year of fracture. In addition, the FRS had discriminant validity. Mean scores for the following groups were significantly different from each other at three and six months: (a) patients who were alive, living in the community, and did not require rehospitalization; (b) those who were admitted to a skilled nursing facility; and (c) those who were rehospitalized. Comparison of the FRS with a sex- and age-matched non-hip-fracture population indicated that hip fracture resulted in a 20 percent loss of function within the first year. Reliability testing of telephone interviews of patients as a means of obtaining information indicated very high reliability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Functional Recovery Score is a reliable method of assessing functional outcome for elderly hip fracture patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, New York 10003, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Koval
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Aharonoff
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Skovron
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results