Rate of mortality for elderly patients after fracture of the hip in the 1980's.

At an average follow-up of 2.1 years, we reviewed the records of 241 patients who had had a fracture of the hip. The average age of the patients was 75.4 years. The rate of mortality one year after the fracture was 21.6 per cent for the total group, 8.0 per cent for the low-risk group, and 49.4 per cent for the high-risk group. The standard mortality ratio was six times higher for the high-risk group than for the general population (individuals who did not have a fracture), matched for age. It was highest for patients who were less than seventy years old and lowest for those who were older than eighty. However, in the second year after the fracture, the standard mortality ratio approached unity--that is, the rate of mortality approached that of the general population. The results suggest that there is an inverse relationship between mortality and advanced age and that the impact of a fracture of the hip on mortality is seen primarily in the first year after injury.