Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2025 Jun;16(3):939-947.
doi: 10.1007/s41999-025-01188-x. Epub 2025 Mar 25.

Predictive factors of concern about falling after hospital discharge among older adults with fragility hip fractures: a prospective cohort study

Suphawita Pliannuom  1 , Phichayut Phinyo  2   3 , Nida Buawangpong  1 , Nopakoon Nantsupawat  1 , Pichitchai Atthakomol  4 , Tanawat Vaseenon  4 , Nitchanant Kitcharanant  4 , Peerasak Lerttrakarnnon  1 , Kanokporn Pinyopornpanish  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Predictive factors of concern about falling after hospital discharge among older adults with fragility hip fractures: a prospective cohort study

Suphawita Pliannuom et al. Eur Geriatr Med. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: Concern about falling [CaF] is common among older adults, particularly after fragility hip fracture. This condition is associated with adverse health outcomes and a reduced quality of life. The aim of this study is to explore predictors of CaF among older patients with fragility hip fractures 2 weeks after hospital discharge.

Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Thailand. Participants were patients aged 60 years and above who had fragility hip fractures and were admitted to the hospital from March 2023 to March 2024. CaF was assessed using the short Falls Efficacy Scale-International 2 weeks after hospital discharge. Predictors examined pre-fall characteristics, fall-related data, surgery-related data, and postoperative data. In the full model approach, the multivariable Gaussian regression was employed to identify predictive factors.

Results: Of the 165 patients included in the study (mean age 78.76 ± 8.72 years), 79.39% were female. In the full model approach, pre-fracture activities of daily living (ADL) < 20 (adjusted mean difference [aMD] 3.44, 95% CI 1.04-5.85, p = 0.005) and shorter in-hospital duration of walking training (aMD - 0.66, 95% CI - 1.10 to - 0.22, p = 0.004) were identified as predictors of CaF at 2 weeks after hospital discharge.

Conclusions: The findings of this study emphasize the importance of assessing pre-fracture functional status and the shorter duration of in-hospital walking training as key predictors of CaF in older adults with fragility hip fractures. Enhancing functional capacity and extending the duration of walking training during hospitalization are crucial steps in reducing CaF in this population.

Keywords: After hospital discharge; Concern about falling; Fragile hip fracture; Older adults; Predictors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. Ethics approval: Approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the corresponding institution (Approval No. 9461, study code FAM-2566-09461. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Asif M, Cadel L, Kuluski K et al (2020) Patient and caregiver experiences on care transitions for adults with a hip fracture: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil 42(24):3549–3558. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1595181 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parker M, Johansen A (2006) Hip fracture. BMJ 333(7557):27–30. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.333.7557.27 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Veronese N, Maggi S (2018) Epidemiology and social costs of hip fracture. Injury 49(8):1458–1460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2018.04.015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhandari M, Swiontkowski M (2017) Management of acute hip fracture. N Engl J Med 377(21):2053–2062. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp1611090 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cooper C, Campion G, Melton LJ 3rd (1992) Hip fractures in the elderly: a world-wide projection. Osteoporos Int 2(6):285–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01623184 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources