Mortality rates of patients with a hip fracture in a southwestern district of Greece: ten-year follow-up with reference to the type of fracture

Abstract

Increased mortality after a hip fracture has been associated with age, sex, and comorbidity. In order to estimate the long-term mortality with reference to hip fracture type, we followed 499 patients older than 60 years who had been treated surgically for a unilateral hip fracture for 10 years. At admission, patients with femoral neck fractures (n = 172) were 2 years younger than intertrochanteric patients (77.6 +/- 7.7 [SD] vs. 79.9 +/- 7.4 [SD], P = 0.001) and had a greater prevalence of heart failure (57% vs. 40.3%, P = 0.03). Similar mortality rates were observed at 1 year in both types of fracture (17.9% vs. 11.3%, log rank test P = 0.112). Mortality rates were significantly higher for intertrochanteric fractures at 5 years (48.8% vs. 34.7%, P = 0.01) and 10 years (76% vs. 58%, P = 0.001). Patients 60-69 years old with intertrochanteric fractures had significantly higher 10-year mortality than patients of similar age with femoral neck fractures (P = 0.008), while there was no difference between the groups aged 70-79 (P > 0.3) and 80-89 (P = 0.07). Women were less likely to die in 5 years (relative risk [RR] = 0.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.41-0.79, P = 0.0007) and 10 years (RR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.49-0.85, P = 0.002). Age, sex, the type of fracture, and the presence of heart failure were independent predictors of 10-year mortality (Cox regression model P < 0.0001). The intertrochanteric type was independently associated with 1.37 (95% CI 1.03-1.83) times higher probability of death at 10 years (P = 0.002). In conclusion, the type of fracture is an independent predictor of long-term mortality in patients with hip fractures, and the intertrochanteric type yields worse prognosis.