Merete Gregersen
Aarhus University, Denmark
Title: Overall quality of life in frail elderly with hip fracture
Biography
Biography: Merete Gregersen
Abstract
Hip fracture substantially reduces quality of life (QoL) in older people. This reduction is highly correlated with physical ability measurements. Also, before the hip fracture institutionalized older patients are less mobile and more dependent on assistance in the activities of daily living (ADL) than those living in their own homes. Further, institutionalized patients generally suffer from some degree of cognitive impairment. The questionnaire “Depression List” is validated as a qualified measure of Overall Quality of Life (OQoL) in nursing home residents with a Mini Mental State Examination score between 5 and 30 (from severe impairment to normal state).
We have examined the reproducibility of the questionnaire and found that it is able to detect clinically relevant changes over time. Using the “Depression List” questionnaire in institutionalized older patients 30 days after the hip fracture and one year later, we found that the OQoL was very low postoperatively, but improved with time. Likewise, we found that ADL recovery, measured by the Modified Barthel Index, improved within the period from 30 days to one year after hip fracture. We may conclude that progress in OQoL and ADL seems to be correlated.