title: Fracture-related hip pain in elderly patients with proximal femoral fracture after discharge from stationary treatment.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Overbergstr. 17, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dasch
authors.forename: Heinz G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Endres
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Margitta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lungenhausen
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smektala
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Trampisch
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pientka
mesh_terms: 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