Recovery of quality of life is associated with lower mortality 5-year post-fracture: the Australian arm of the International Costs and Utilities Related to Osteoporotic Fractures Study (AusICUROS).

UNLABELLED

Little is known about factors that lead to excess mortality post-fracture. This study demonstrated that 5-year mortality is lower in older adults who recovered to their pre-fracture health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at 12-months compared to those who did not recover. Our results highlight the importance of post-fracture interventions known to improve HRQoL.

INTRODUCTION

Fragility fractures lead to increased mortality and decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults, although whether an association exists between these outcomes remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine whether recovery of HRQoL 12-month post-fracture is associated with lower 5-year mortality.

METHODS

This data linkage study included 524 adults (mean age: 70.2 years; 79.2% women) with fragility fracture (150 hip, 261 distal forearm, 61 vertebral, 52 humerus) from the Australian arm of the International Costs and Utilities Related to Osteoporotic fractures Study (AusICUROS). HRQoL was measured using the EQ-5D-3L and all-cause mortality post-fracture was ascertained from the Australian National Death Index (NDI). Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between HRQoL recovery (vs. non-recovery) and all-cause mortality within 5 years.

RESULTS

Overall, 279 participants (53.2%) recovered to their pre-fracture HRQoL at 12-month follow-up. There were 70 deaths (13.4%) during the 5-year post-fracture. Mortality rate was the highest in hip fracture participants (24.7%), followed by vertebral (16.4%), humeral (13.5%), and distal forearm fracture participants (6.1%). After adjustment for age, pre-fracture HRQoL, and fracture site, mortality risk was lower in participants who recovered to their pre-fracture HRQoL at 12-months compared to those who did not recover (HR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.33-0.96, p = 0.034).

CONCLUSION

This study provides evidence that HRQoL recovery post-fracture is associated with improved 5-year survival in older adults. The extent to whether current interventions known to improve HRQoL post-fracture could prevent some of these deaths is unknown.