Increased Mortality Rates Observed for Patients With Both Hip Fracture, COVID-19 Infection

COVID-19 infection is associated with increased mortality rates among patients presenting with hip fracture, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 

For the purposes of their meta-analysis, authors systematically reviewed PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase for studies with outcomes related to the prevalence of COVID-19, case fatality rate, 30-day mortality, cause of death, risk factors associated with the mortality of patients with hip fracture, time to surgery, surgical time, and length of hospital stay. Estimates were pooled using risk ratio or weight mean difference with 95% confidence intervals.

COVID-19 was prevalence in 21% of patients presenting with hip fracture across the 60 total studies included in the final analysis. Patients with both hip fracture and COVID-19 were observed to have a higher 30-day mortality risk compared with those without COVID-19. 

Primary causes of death included respiratory failure, COVID-19-associated pneumonia, multiorgan failure, and non-COVID-19 pneumonia.

Overall, hospital stays were longer for patients with both hip fracture and COVID-19, but periods were shorter during the pandemic. 

No significant difference was observed for surgery time or time to surgery in patients with vs without COVID-19. 

“This information can be used by the medical community to guide the management of patients with hip fracture with COVID-19,” concluded authors. 

Reference:
Ding L, Wei J, Wang B. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Prevalence, Mortality, and Associated Risk Factors for Mortality in Patients With Hip Fractures: A Meta-analysis. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2023;S1525-8610(23)00290-6. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2023.03.011