Background: Understanding mortality risk factors is critical to reducing mortality among elderly hip fracture patients. To investigate the effects of admission and post-operative levels of distribution width of red blood cells (RDW), albumin, and RDW/albumin (RA) ratio on predicting 1-year mortality following hip fracture surgery.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 275 elderly patients who underwent hip fracture surgery in a tertiary hospital between January 2018 and January 2022. Deaths within one year of hip fracture were defined as the deceased group. The survivors were defined as those who survived for at least one year. The relationship between admission and post-operative levels of RDW, albumin, RA, and mortality within one year after hip surgery was assessed statistically, including binary logistic regression analysis. The study also assessed other factors related to mortality.
Results: One-year mortality was 34.7%. There was a 3.03-year (95% CI [1.32-4.75]) difference between the deceased (79.55 ± 8.36 years) and survivors (82.58 ± 7.41 years) (p < 0.001). In the deceased group, the mean hemoglobin (HGB) values at admission (p = 0.022) and post-operative (p = 0.04) were significantly lower. RDW values at admission (p = 0.001) and post-op (p = 0.001) were significantly lower in the survivor group. The mean albumin values at admission (p < 0.001) and post-operative (p < 0.001) in the survivor group were significantly higher than in the deceased group. A significant difference was found between the survivor group and the deceased group in terms of mean RA ratio at admission and post-operative (p < 0.001). Based on binary logistic regression analysis, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR 3.73, 95% CI [1.8-7.76]), RDW (OR 1.78, 95% CI [1.48-2.14]), and albumin (OR 0.81, 95% CI [0.75-0.87]), values at admission were found to be independent predictors of 1-year mortality in elderly patients with hip fracture.
Conclusion: Based on this study, presence of COPD, higher RDW, and lower albumin levels at admission were independent predictors of 1-year mortality following hip fracture surgery in the elderly.
Keywords: Albumin; Hip fractures; Mortality; Red cell distribution width.
©2023 Özel et al.