Fracture-related hip pain in elderly patients with proximal femoral fracture after discharge from stationary treatment.
BACKGROUND
Proximal femoral fracture is a common condition in the elderly but very little is known about fracture-related hip pain in these patients after discharge from stationary treatment.


OBJECTIVE
To identify risk factors associated with persistent hip pain in elderly hip-fracture patients.


METHODS
We analysed data from a large observational study, evaluating the health care situation of hip-fracture patients between January 2002 and September 2003 in Germany. For this analysis, we focused on a sub-sample of patients who were 65 years or older, had sustained an isolated proximal femoral fracture and had undergone surgical intervention. A telephone interview was conducted 6-12 months after discharge. Pain intensity, pain-related disability and severity of chronic pain were measured using the Graded Chronic Pain Scale (GCPS). Multivariate linear regression methods were applied to test hospital patient data for their value in predicting post-hospitalisation presence of fracture-related pain.


RESULTS
In total, 1541 patients (mean age 78.4, 76.1% female) were enrolled in this analysis. The prevalence of fracture-related hip pain was 13.4% (206/1541). Among these 206 patients, 57.3% had pain intensity scores 50, 65.0% had pain disability scores 50, and the severity of chronic pain (Grades 1-4) was assessed as follows: (1) 34.0%, (2) 19.4%, (3) 31.5%, (4) 15.1%. The clinical variables age, weight and operative procedure were found to be predictive of post-hospitalisation fracture-related pain.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis shows that a substantial percentage of elderly patients with proximal femoral fracture suffer intense fracture-related hip pain after stationary treatment.
Dasch
Burkhard
B
Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Overbergstr. 17, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
Endres
Heinz G
HG
Maier
Christoph
C
Lungenhausen
Margitta
M
Smektala
Rüdiger
R
Trampisch
Hans J
HJ
Pientka
Ludger
L
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001835:Body Weight; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006615:Hip / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods