Functional recovery and length of stay after hip fracture in patients taking corticosteroids.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the functional recovery and the length of stay after hip fracture in patients receiving corticosteroids.


METHODS
A total of 796 inpatients with hip fracture consecutively admitted to our rehabilitation hospital were included in this retrospective study. A total of 36 of 796 were currently treated with either oral (n = 23) or inhaled (n = 13) corticosteroids.


RESULTS
No significant differences were shown between corticosteroid users and controls for Barthel index score at admission or discharge, change in Barthel index score resulting from rehabilitation, and length of stay. Multiple regression, including 11 confounding variables, showed that several factors, but not the treatment with corticosteroids, were significantly associated with the Barthel index score or the length of stay. The results were similar when the two subgroups of patients receiving corticosteroids were evaluated separately. In the subgroup of the patients receiving oral corticosteroids, no meaningful correlations were observed between the daily dose (milligrams of prednisone equivalent) and the Barthel index score, the change in the Barthel index score attributable to rehabilitation, or the length of stay.


CONCLUSIONS
After hip fracture, neither the functional recovery nor the length of stay were significantly affected by the current treatment with corticosteroids.
Osteoporosis Research Center, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Presidio Sanitario San Camillo, Turin, Italy.
Marco
M
Di Monaco
Fulvia
F
Vallero
Roberto
R
Di Monaco
Fulvio
F
Mautino
Alberto
A
Cavanna
D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007902:Length of Stay; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D005938:Glucocorticoids