Length of Hospital Stay for Hip Fracture Is Associated with Risk for Early Death

Hip fracture can be associated with poor outcomes, including death, especially in elders. To assess the relation between length of hospital stay for hip fracture and risk for death at 30 days after discharge, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 188,000 patients (age, ≥50) with hospital admissions for hip fracture in New York state.

Mortality during hospitalization was 4%. Among those who survived hospitalization, 30-day postdischarge mortality ranged from 4% (in patients with hospital stays ≤5 days) to 12% (in those with hospital stays >14 days). Adjusted analyses showed that women, blacks, and patients not discharged to skilled nursing facilities had lower mortality at 30 days after hospital discharge, whereas patients who…