Basic Characteristics, Comorbidity, and Patient-Reported Outcome Following Surgically Treated Patients With Ankle...

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Patient-reported outcomes
• Biostatistics

Background:

• Limited data exists on factors influencing outcomes after surgically treated ankle fractures.
• Understanding associations between patient characteristics and long-term results is crucial for effective treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how basic characteristics and comorbidities affect long-term Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) in surgically treated ankle fracture patients.
• To compare these long-term scores with national FAOS reference values.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of adult patients with surgically treated ankle fractures (2017-2018).
• Data collected on age, gender, comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index - CCI), and fracture classification.
• Patient-reported outcomes assessed using FAOS in March 2023.

Main Results:

• 278 patients analyzed; mean age 54.2 years, 59% female.
• Most patients (73%) had a CCI of 0; common comorbidities included cardiovascular disease (17.6%) and diabetes (6.4%).
• Higher Body Mass Index (BMI) significantly correlated with worse scores in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Sports/Recreation, and Quality of Life (QOL) subscales (P < .04). Age and gender showed no significant association with FAOS scores.

Conclusions:

• Surgically treated ankle fractures in this cohort had low comorbidity.
• Unlike age and gender, BMI significantly impacts long-term FAOS subscales.
• Patients reported poorer outcomes than reference values, suggesting persistent functional limitations and perceived complaints post-surgery.