CRP/albumin ratio in predicting 1-year mortality in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery

In the literature, rates of up to 37.1% have been reported for 1-year mortality after hip fractures. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) is an independent risk factor for 1-year mortality after hip fracture and whether CAR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), CRP, albumin level, and other parameters have an effect on mortality and morbidity.

Over a 3-year period, 480 patients aged 65 years and older who underwent hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture were analyzed. A univariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify prognostic factors for 1-year mortality. Significant variables were re-evaluated using binary logistic regression analysis.

The number of patients who died within 1 year postoperatively was 95 (27.7%), and the median age was 85 years. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) for 1-year mortality after hip fracture, the optimal cut-off value of CAR was found to be 1.03. The area under the curve (AUC) for mortality was 0.843, the sensitivity was 65.3%, and the specificity was 92.7% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.791-0.895; p < 0.001]. The optimal cut-off value for CRP was 2.85, the AUC was 0.838, the sensitivity was 70%, and the specificity was 89% (95% CI, 0.785-0.890; p < 0.001). The optimal cut-off value of NLR for postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) admission was determined to be 6.64.

CAR was a predictive factor for 1-year postoperative mortality and postoperative ICU admission, whereas NLR was a predictive factor for postoperative ICU admission.