Abstract
Hip fractures are common in the elderly. These people often had a history of multiple falls, and previous fractures. Fear of falling (FOF) have being reported in the follow-up of hip fractures.
Aims
To evaluate the FOF in patients just after hip fracture and before surgical treatment.
Material and methods
Prospective study of patients admitted in our hospital with hip fracture (subcapital, trochanteric and subtrochanteric). All patients were evaluated using the FES-I score for FOF before surgical treatment. Clinical and social data, previous history of falls, and fractures were recorded. Exclusion criteria were a score below 8 on the Minimental test on admission and previous hip fracture. Stadistical analysis were peformed using ANOVA, chi square and contingency tables.
Results
During the 7 months that lasted this work 144 hip fracture were admitted to our hospital. Only 40 had a Minimental score of 8 or more, mean age was 82 years old, they were 33 female and 7 male, 18% of them were living at home, alone, 82% with their partners or other family members, 40% had no history of previous falls, 10 falls in the last year was reported by one patient. No or little FOF were reported by 52% of patients, while 48% had fear or too much fear. We have found a statistical significant relationship between FOF and patient age (p<0,001), fracture type (p<0,05), and previous history of falls (p<0,05).
Conclusion
FOF prior to hip fracture is strongly related to of age, previous falls and fracture type.
