Changes in quality of life among elderly patients with hip fracture in Taiwan

To examine the longitudinal change in health related quality of life (HRQoL) during 1 year following hospital discharge in elderly subjects, 110 hip fractured subjects (age, mean+/-SD: 79.3+/-7.4 years) were enrolled in a prospective study. Face-to-face interviews with the patients were conducted, using Short Form 36 (SF-36) at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after they were discharged from the hospital. The GEE approach was employed to evaluate changes in the variables of interest among different time points. Subjects in this study appeared to have lower scores in most dimensions of SF-36, with physical function and role limitation being the lowest due to physical problems (mean+/-SD=10.97+/-16.19; 6.32+/-20.60) during the 1st month after hospital discharge, compared to community dwelling subjects (mean+/-SD=77.5+/-20.5; 63.8+/-45.30). Most of the dimensions of SF-36, except general health (6th month versus 3rd month=57.56+/-21.90 versus 61.75+/-23.46, P>0.05) improved significantly from the 1st month to the 3rd month (range of means of improved scores from 12.81 to 30.76, P<0.01). After the 3rd month after discharge, physical functions kept improving significantly until 6 months after hospital discharge (3rd month versus 6th month=25.18+/-23.66 versus 40.30+/-25.94, P<0.05). Role limitation due to physical problems reached a plateau between the 3rd and 6th month, and then again improved significantly during the 6th month and the 1st year after hospital discharge (6th month versus 1st year=17.69+/-31.78 versus 32.22+/-44.47, P<0.05). The rest of the dimensions of SF-36 remained stable from the 3rd month to 1 year after discharge. These results indicated that different aspects of SF-36 recovered differently for the hip fractured patients in Taiwan. Similar studies may be helpful for health-care providers in other countries with Chinese populations to develop specific intervention programs.