Functional recovery after concomitant fractures of both hip and upper limb in elderly people

Abstract

Objective: To investigate functional recovery after concomitant fractures of both hip and upper limb in elderly people.

Design: Survey study.

Setting: Rehabilitation hospital in Italy.

Participants: 586 consecutive in-patients with hip fracture.

Main outcome measures: Functional recovery was evaluated by using Barthel index score.

Results: 4.1% of patients (i.e. 24/586) suffered from a concomitant fracture of an upper limb, involving proximal humerus (n = 8) or distal radius (n = 16). After adjustment for 9 prognostic factors, a significant reduction in the Barthel index score on admission but not on discharge was found in the patients with an upper limb fracture. The length of stay was not significantly associated with the presence of the concomitant upper limb fracture.

Conclusions: In a sample of hip-fractured patients, neither the functional recovery at the end of a course of rehabilitation nor the length of stay were influenced by the presence of a concomitant fracture involving an upper limb.