Pain and fracture-related limitations persist 6 months after a fragility fracture

Our objective was to examine the experience of pain after a fracture beyond the conventional healing duration of 6 months. We conducted a phenomenological study in participants who were deemed high risk for future fracture and recruited through an urban fracture clinic in Toronto, Canada. In-depth interviews were conducted with questions addressing the experience of pain, the status of recovery from the fracture, ways in which the fracture affected one's daily activities, and interactions with health care providers. Two researchers coded the transcripts within the phenomenological perspective to develop a structure of the pain experience, promoting rigour through the use of multiple analysts, searching for negative cases, and supporting claims with direct quotations from participants. We interviewed 21 participants who had sustained fractures of the wrist (n = 4), hip (n = 6), vertebrae (n = 2), and multiple or other locations (n = 9). All patients were ambulatory, had a range of socioeconomic status, and lived in the community. Eleven of the 21 participants reported persistent pain at the site of the fracture. Of the 10 participants who reported no pain, four indicated they had ongoing difficulties with range of motion and specific activities and two others described persistent pain from a previous fracture or reliance on a scooter for mobility. Our study demonstrated that over two-thirds of older adults reported fracture-related pain and/or limitations at, or beyond, 6 months post-fracture. We suggest that health care providers ask questions about post-fracture pain and/or limitations when assessing fracture status beyond 6 months.