Function and social status 10 years after hip fracture. Prospective follow-up of 103 patients

Function and social outcome for 103 consecutive patients, mean age 75 years, admitted from their own homes after a hip fracture were studied during a 10-year period. Within 4 months after the fracture, 81 patients had returned home, and the percentage of survivors living at home from then on was then fairly constant. At 10 years after fracture, 31 patients were living at home, 6 were in institutions, and 66 were dead. ADL, walking ability, and household activities remained at the level already achieved within 4 months after fracture during the 10-year period. The need for social services help did not increase; about one third of the survivors had communal home help throughout the 10-year period. Patients who before fracture were healthy and living with someone and within 2 weeks after the fracture could walk with a four-legged aid or better had a good prognosis for living in their own home. The hip fracture did not effect their subsequent fate.