title: Methodology and baseline characteristics for the Sarcopenia and Hip Fracture study: a 5-year prospective study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fiatarone Singh
authors.forename: Nalin A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Ross D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Terence P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Finnegan
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Terrence H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: Ashish D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Diwan
authors.forename: Bradley D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: Dominique A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Emma U R
authors.initials: EU
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jodie N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.forename: Theodora M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Stavrinos
authors.forename: Martin W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: 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