New study finds diabetes patients at greater mortality risk after hip fractures

Thu, 12 May 2011
A study by scientists in Turkey has shown that there should be a greater focus on post-operative care for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes, as well as glycaemic control and post-operative complications, to help lower the chances of mortality when treating hip fractures .

The research involved a retrospective review of 230 patients with an average age of 76.1 years that had sustained a hip fracture between January 1997 and June 2008. Both medical and nursing data were assessed for information including demographic factors, presence and duration of diabetes, glucose levels, HbA1c levels, prior co-morbidities, length of post-fracture stay and postoperative complications, and albumin and haemoglobin levels.

The review of the 148 women and 82 men involved found that 69 of the patients had type 2 diabetes, and that patients suffering from diabetes who suffered a hip fracture were at a greater risk of mortality than those patients without the metabolic condition .

In addition, the diabetes patients had one-year survival probability of 68 per cent, while those patients that did not have diabetes showed a one-year survival probability of 87.3 per cent.

Factors that were said to be predictors of mortality among the patients with diabetes included advanced age, presence of post-operative complications, and elevated HbA1c levels.

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