Health‐related quality of life outcomes after surgical treatment of atypical femur fractures: a multicenter retrospective cohort study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes for surgically-treated atypical femur fractures (AFFs) compared to typical femoral diaphyseal fractures. Two large trauma center databases were retrospectively queried for surgically-treated femur fractures. Fractures were grouped into AFFs and compared to a control cohort. Controls for the AFF group included women with diaphyseal fractures without additional AFF characteristics. Patients were contacted for administration of the Short Form-36v2 Health Survey. Surveys were completed an average of 30.3 months (range 6-138 months) and 25.5 months (range 5-77 months) postoperatively for the AFF and non-AFF groups, respectively. All patients were female, with 46 patients in the AFF and 26 patients in the non-AFF group. The average age of the AFF group was 70.1 years compared with an average age of 67.4 years in the non-AFF group (p=0.287). 91.3% of patients in the AFF group had a history of bisphosphonate use while 26.9% of patients in the non-AFF group had used bisphosphonates (p<0.0001). Patients with AFF reported their postoperative physical and mental health to be no different than similarly aged patients with femoral diaphyseal fractures, as measured by the SF-36v2 Health Survey. These data suggest that mid-term patient-reported quality of life outcomes are similar among women who sustain an AFF compared to a cohort of more typical femoral diaphyseal fractures.