Geriatric management of the frail elderly with hip fracture may improve their clinical outcome

BACKGROUND: The treatment of osteoporotic hip fracture requires the intervention of different medical specialities. The purpose of this study was to know the clinical profile of patients with an acute hip fracture referred for assessment and management to a geriatric assessment team (GAT) and the influence of this kind of geriatric care in their hospital outcome. PATIENTS AND METHOD: All patients 65 year-old or older admitted in a teaching hospital for a hip fracture in a 12 month period were included. The clinical, functional, cognitive and social status were assessed at admission and at discharge in both groups: the patients managed by the GAT and the patients that were not. The patient's characteristics of both groups were compared, and a multivariant analysis was applied to search the variables independently associated wit a better clinical course. RESULTS: On admission, the GAT patients (n = 202) were significantly (p < 0.05) older (84.4 vs 81.7 years), had more previous functional impairment (Barthel index 72 vs 79), more previous diseases (5.4 vs 3.3) and medications (3.2 vs 1.9), presented more frequency of cognitive impairment (52 vs 41%), of high surgical risk (54 vs 26%) and more need of social assistance at home (57 vs 38%) than non-refered patients (n = 200), At discharge, GAT patients had better functional status (Barthel index 38.5 vs 34), had been surgically treated (92 vs 84%), had received fisiotherapy (83.7 vs 66.5%) and walked more (56.1% vs 33.8%) than others. In the multivariant analysis, the GAT intervention shows like an independent variable associated to higher frequency of surgical treatment (OR 4.21; CI, 2.80-6.34), to recovery of walking ability (OR, 8.26; CI, 5.23-13.04) and to receive more medical diagnosis (OR, 79.69; CI: 55.48-114.45). The GAT intervention was not associated to a longer hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: The patients with hip fracture in acute phase required for management by a OAT are more complex than those who were not consulted. In these patients GAT intervention improve their clinical outcome and the efficiency of hospital admission.