Methodology and baseline characteristics for the Sarcopenia and Hip Fracture study: a 5-year prospective study.
BACKGROUND
Age-related hip fractures are associated with poor functional outcomes, resulting in substantial personal and societal burden. There is a need to better identify reversible etiologic predictors of suboptimal functional recovery in this group.


METHODS
The Sarcopenia and Hip Fracture (SHIP) study was a 5-year prospective cohort study following community-dwelling older persons admitted to three Sydney hospitals for hip fracture. Information was collected at baseline, and 4 and 12 months, including health status, quality of life, nutritional status, body composition, muscle strength, range of motion, gait velocity, balance, walking endurance, disability, cognition, depression, fear of falling, self-efficacy, social support, physical activity level, vision, and fall-related data, with residential status, disability, and mortality reassessed at 5 years.


RESULTS
193 participants enrolled (81 +/- 8 years, 72% women). High levels of activities of daily living, disability and sedentariness were present prior to fracture. At admission, the cohort had high levels of chronic disease; 38% were depressed, 38% were cognitively impaired, and 26% had heart disease. Seventy-one percent of participants were sarcopenic, 58% undernourished, and 55% vitamin D deficient. Mobility, strength, and vision were severely impaired. There was little evidence that these comorbidities were either recognized or treated during hospitalization. Disability, sedentariness, malnutrition, and walking endurance predicted acute hospitalization length of stay.


CONCLUSIONS
The complex comorbidity, pre-existing functional impairment, and sedentary behavior in patients with hip fracture suggest the need for thorough screening and targeting of potentially reversible impairments. Rehabilitation outcomes are likely to be highly dependent on amelioration of these highly prevalent accompaniments to hip fracture.
Fiatarone Singh
Maria A
MA
Exercise, Health and Performance Faculty Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, East Street, Lidcombe 2141, New South Wales, Australia. m.singh@usyd.edu.au
Singh
Nalin A
NA
Hansen
Ross D
RD
Finnegan
Terence P
TP
Allen
Barry J
BJ
Diamond
Terrence H
TH
Diwan
Ashish D
AD
Lloyd
Bradley D
BD
Williamson
Dominique A
DA
Smith
Emma U R
EU
Grady
Jodie N
JN
Stavrinos
Theodora M
TM
Thompson
Martin W
MW
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors