Institutionalized patients with hip fractures: characteristics associated with returning to community dwelling

The authors sought to identify patient- and nursing home-specific characteristics associated with a return to community living among patients with hip fractures discharged initially to nursing homes. One hundred eighty-nine free-living elderly patients were admitted for hip fractures to a 1,120-bed community hospital during 1984-1986. At hospital discharge, 114 (60%) of these patients were institutionalized. One year later, 49/114 (43%) had returned to the community. Three factors independently correlated with patients' return to community living: being discharged to a nursing home with a large ratio of annual admissions to number of beds (RR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.65, 3.94), achieving any in-hospital ambulation (RR = 4.24, 95% CI 1.77, 8.14), and receiving conventional Medicare insurance (RR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.05, 0.53). These data suggest the existence of patient and nursing home features that identify those institutionalized patients with hip fractures who are more likely to return to community dwelling.