Social rehabilitation following hip fractures.

A prospective 6 months' study of 518 patients with hip fractures was undertaken. The patients were classified into four social function groups on admission to hospital and again at the follow-up, according to their dependence on home-help and other services of the social welfare system. This dependency increased with the age of the patients. Life tables for the case material showed that the mortality depended more on pre-fracture social function than on age. At the follow-up, the risk of death or increased social dependency among primarily independent patients was found to be 38 per cent compared with 48 per cent among slightly dependent patients and 62 per cent in moderately dependent patients. A total of 17 per cent of the surviving patients admitted from home became nursing home patients. The pre-fracture social assessment determined the end-result to a greater extent than the age at the time of fracture. About 75 per cent of the patients discharged to their homes maintained their social function compared with 68 per cent of the patients discharged to a convalescent home and 47 per cent of the patients discharged to rehabilitation clinics.