Correlations between the levels of acute infection markers and serum albumin in elderly patients with hip fracture

Objective The aim of this study was to explore a clinical index that could predict the decline of serum albumin (ALB) in elderly patients (over 60 years old) with hip fractures in 2014. Methods All the data came from the retrospective survey, and the correlations between the ALB changes and acute infection markers were then analyzed using correlation analysis. The changes of infection markers and ALB before and after surgery were compared using the t test. Results There was no correlation of the serum ALB blood with interleukin-6 (IL-6) (r = 0.072, P = 0.588), C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = - 0.249, P = 0.057), or calcitonin (PCT) (r = - 0.038, P = 0.775) when patients were admitted, but it was negatively correlated with the total amount of infection markers (TAIMs) (r = - 0.301, P = 0.020). The postoperative levels of IL-6 (154.23 +/- 177.14 pg/mL) (P < 0.001), CRP (69.52 +/- 39.84 mg/L) (P < 0.001), and PCT (1.27 +/- 2.4 ng/mL) (P < 0.001) were significantly increased than those before surgery [IL-6 (44.96 +/- 54.58 pg/mL), CRP (31.78 +/- 29.90 mg/L), and PCT (0.42 +/- 1.06 ng/mL)]. The postoperative level of serum ALB (29.93 +/- 3.02 g/L) was significantly reduced than that before surgery (33.95 +/- 3.69 g/L) (P < 0.001). The serum ALB level was negatively correlated with IL-6 (r = - 0.333, P = 0.015) before surgery, but not correlated with TAIMs (r = - 0.256, P = 0.061). The serum ALB level was negatively correlated with IL-6 (r = - 0.292, P = 0.034) and TAIMs (r = - 0.271, P = 0.050) after surgery. Conclusions The serum IL-6 level could predict the changes of ALB during the disease process.