Quality of life and femoral neck fractures

The worldwide increase in hip fractures is a major challenge to the health care system and society. The proper treatment of femoral neck fractures in the elderly is still controversial, and even more so from an international perspective. Optimising the treatment for improved outcomes and a reduced need for secondary surgery is mandatory for humanitarian and economical reasons. The importance of incorporating the patient's perspective of the outcome in clinical trials has been acknowledged and there are now numerous instruments for assessing the quality of life. We evaluated two quality of life instruments, the EQ-5D and the SF-36, in patients with femoral neck fractures and also measured the quality of life two years after different interventions. The EQ-5D was validated in two prospective studies and it appeared to be an appropriate quality of life instrument in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures. There was a good correlation between the quality of life (EQ-5Dindexscores) and other outcome measures such as pain, mobility and independence in activities of daily living (ADL). The results also showed high responsiveness, i.e., ability to capture clinically important changes, for both the EQ-5D and the SF-36. The questionnaire response rate for both instruments was high. The rated prefracture EQ-5Dindexscores showed good correspondence with the scores of an age-matched Swedish reference population. The quality of life in patients with femoral neck fractures treated with internal fixation (IF) decreased, particularly in patients with fracture healing complications. The fracture healing complications rate at two years in patients with displaced femoral neck fractures treated with IF was 36% compared with 7% in patients with undisplaced fractures. The quality of life of patients with uneventfully healed fractures at two year was lower in patients with primary displaced fractures than in patients with primary undisplaced fractures. In a prospective randomised trial, patients with displaced femoral neck fractures were randomised to IF or total hip replacement (THR). IF resulted in more complications than THR, 36% versus 4%, and necessitated more reoperations, 42% versus 4%. Hip function and quality of life (EQ-5D) were generally better in the THR group. In summary, THR yielded a better outcome than IF for an elderly, relatively healthy, lucid patient with a displaced femoral neck fracture. In a study of elderly women with femoral neck fractures, nearly half of the patients displayed signs of protein-energy malnutrition. Underweight was associated with muscle fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and a low quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile). In a prospective randomised trial, protein-rich liquid supplementation in combination with an anabolic steroid given for 6 months to lean elderly women after a femoral neck fracture was shown to positively affect lean body mass, ADL and quality of life (EQ-5D). Fracture healing complications had a negative impact on body weight, lean body mass and quality of life.