Rehabilitation following hip fracture surgery: a comparative study of females and males.

PURPOSE: To compare patient, fracture and rehabilitation variables between male and female patients during the rehabilitation period immediately following surgical repair of hip fracture (HF).

METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted in a rehabilitation geriatric ward in a tertiary university hospital in southern Israel. The study group consisted of 808 elderly patients, 65 years of age or older, selected for hospitalized rehabilitation following surgery for HF. The measurements included functional studies by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scale, mental status by Folstein Minimental Test and Clock Drawing Test, Geriatric Depression Screening Scale (GDS), demographic and social parameters, laboratory tests, length of rehabilitation, complications and mortality during rehabilitation.

RESULTS: Six hundred and fourteen patients (76%) were women and 194 (24%) were men. The mean age ( +/- SD) of the women was 78.4 +/- 7.1 years and of the men was 77.8 +/- 7.5 (NS). There were no significant differences between women and men in terms of the anatomic site of the fracture or the type of surgery, the complication rate or mortality during rehabilitation, the length of time needed for rehabilitation, the framework to which the patient was discharged, FIM values before the HF, on admission and at the end of rehabilitation, or the difference between FIM scores at these last two points in time.

CONCLUSIONS: In selected elderly patients with HF gender does not affect variables associated with hip fracture, the rehabilitation process immediately following the fracture, or the results of rehabilitation.