Hip fracture is one of the most serious consequences of falls in the elderly, with a mortality of 10% at one month and 30% at one year. Elderly patients with hip fractures have complex medical, surgical, and rehabilitation needs, and a well-coordinated multidisciplinary team approach is essential for the best outcome.The model of best practice for hip fracture care is set out in the Orthopaedic Blue Book and is incentivised by the best practice tariff. In 2009 to 2010, only 39.6% of our patients were being operated on within 36 hours, 19% achieved best practice tariff [1], and mortality was 7.8%. We were ranked as one of the worst hospitals to achieve best practice tariff [1] and our mortality was average.The orthogeriatrics team at Ashford & St Peter's NHS Trust (SPH) was implemented in 2010. Through a system redesign, regular governance meetings, audits and quality improvement projects, we have managed to improve care for our patients and reduce mortality.Over the last three years we have successfully achieved best care for our hip fracture patients, demonstrating a steady improvement in our attainment of the best practice tariff and a reduction in mortality to 5.3% in 2013, which ranks us amongst the best trusts nationally.

A useful estimate of outcome and LOS can be made by constructing a predictive equation from information on hospital admission, to provide evidence-based guidance for resource requirements and discharge planning.

Background the 4AT (Alertness, Abbreviated Mental Test-4, Attention and Acute change or fluctuating course), a tool to screen cognitive impairment and delirium, has recently been recommended by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. We examined its ability to predict health outcomes among patients admitted with hip fractures to a single hospital between January 2018 and June 2019. Methods the 4AT was performed within 1 day after hip surgery. A 4AT score of 0 means unlikely delirium or severe cognitive impairment (reference group); a score of 1–3 suggests possible chronic cognitive impairment, without excluding possibility of delirium; a score ≥ 4 suggests delirium with or without chronic cognitive impairment. Logistic regression, adjusted for: age; sex; nutritional status; co-morbidities; polypharmacy; and anticholinergic burden, used the 4AT to predict mobility, length of stay (LOS), mortality and discharge destination, compared with the reference group. Results from 537 (392 women, 145 men: mean = 83.7 ± standard deviation [SD] = 8.8 years) consecutive patients, 522 completed the 4AT; 132 (25%) had prolonged LOS (>2 weeks) and 36 (6.8%) died in hospital. Risk of failure to mobilise within 1 day of surgery was increased with a 4AT score ≥ 4 (OR = 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3–4.3). Prolonged LOS was increased with 4AT scores of 1–3 (OR = 2.4, 95%CI = 1.4–4.1) or ≥4 (OR = 3.1, 95%CI = 1.9–6.7). In-patient mortality was increased with a 4AT score ≥ 4 (OR = 3.1, 95%CI = 1.2–8.2) but not with a 4AT score of 1–3. Change of residence on discharge was increased with a 4AT score ≥ 4 (OR = 3.1, 95%CI = 1.4–6.8). These associations persisted after excluding patients with dementia. 4AT score = 1–3 and ≥ 4 associated with increased LOS by 3 and 6 days, respectively. Conclusions for older adults with hip fracture, the 4AT independently predicts immobility, prolonged LOS, death in hospital and change in residence on discharge.

No abstract

The Nottingham Hip Fracture Score (NHFS) has been developed for predicting 30-day and 1-year mortality after hip fracture. We hypothesise that NHFS may also predict other adverse events. Data from 666 patients (190 men, 476 women), aged 60.2–103.4 years, admitted with a hip fracture to a single centre from 1/10/2015 and 7/12/2017 were analysed. The ability of NHFS to predict mobility within 1 day after surgery, length of stay (LOS) find mortality, and discharge destination was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves and two-graph plots. The area under the curve (95% confidence interval [CI]) for predicting mortality was 67.4% (58.4–76.4%), prolonged LOS was 59.0% (54.0–64.0%), discharge to residential/nursing care was 62.3% (54.0–71.5%), and any two of failure to mobilise, prolonged LOS or discharge to residential/nursing care was 64.8% (59.0–70.6%). NHFS thresholds at 4 and 7 corresponding to the lower and upper limits of intermediate range where sensitivity and specificity equal 90% were identified for mortality and prolonged LOS, and 4 and 6 for discharge to residential/nursing care, which were used to create three risk categories. Compared with the low risk group (NHFS = 0–4), the high risk group (NHFS = 7–10 or 6–10) had increased risk of in-patient mortality: rates = 2.0% versus 7.1%, OR (95% CI) = 3.8 (1.5–9.9), failure to mobilise within 1 day of surgery: rates = 18.9% versus 28.3%, OR = 1.7 (1.0–2.8), prolonged LOS (> 17 days): rates = 20.3% versus 33.9%, OR = 2.2 (1.3–3.3), discharge to residential/nursing care: rates = 4.5% vs 12.3%, OR = 3.0 (1.4–6.4), and any two of failure to mobilise, prolonged LOS or discharge to residential/nursing care: rates = 10.5% versus 28.6%, 3.4 (95% CI 1.9–6.0), and stayed 4.1 days (1.5–6.7 days) longer in hospital. High NHFS associates with increased risk of mortality, prolonged LOS and discharge to residential/nursing care, lending further support for its use to identify adverse events.