We aimed to examine the influence of nursing home residency on mortality after sustaining an acute hip fracture in patients presenting to a metropolitan trauma centre. A prospective study of all adults aged 65 years and over who presented to a single tertiary referral hospital for management of a fracture of the proximal femur between July 2003 and September 2006. Residential status was obtained at admission. Patients were followed up to September 2007. Relative risk values for mortality were calculated comparing nursing home residents with non-nursing home residents. Survival analysis was performed.

Relative risk of death was higher in nursing home patients compared to non-nursing home patients. This was particularly so in the first 30 days (RR 1.9). Survival analysis showed that 25% of patients in the nursing home group died by 96 days post-injury, compared with 435 days post-injury in the non-nursing home group. The age-adjusted hazard ratio for death in nursing home patients was 1.5 (95% CI: 1.1–2.1), however the effect of nursing home status decreased over the first 12–24 months.

Nursing home residence confers an increased risk of death following hip fractures, especially in the immediate post-injury period. However, the relative risk of death decreased over time. This study provides some indication of the mortality risk in an easily definable population, without requiring an alternative assessment of comorbidities.