Care-related Quality of Life of informal caregivers of the elderly after a hip fracture

Background: Reforms in the Dutch healthcare system in combination with the aging of the population will lead to a strong increase in the demand for informal care in the Netherlands. A hip fracture is one of the most important causes of hospital admissions among frail elderly and informal caregivers experience stress that may have significantly negative impact on the caregivers’ Quality of Life. The purpose of the study was to determine the nature, intensity and the care-related Quality of Life (CarerQoL) of informal caregivers of elderly patients in the first six months after a hip fracture. In this cross-sectional study, were interviewed the primary informal caregivers of patients with a hip fracture about the informal care provided after one, three or six months following the injury. The CarerQoL of the informal caregivers was measured with the CarerQoL-7D instrument. Results: In total, 123 primary informal caregivers were included. The CarerQoL-7D score was on average 83.7 (SD 15.0) after one, three and six months, and there were no major differences between the measurement time points. The average amount of informal care provided per patient per week was 39.5 during the first six months. Partners of patients with a hip fracture provided significantly more hours of informal care (β 34.0; 95% CI: 20.9 – 47.1). Female informal caregivers stated a significantly lower level of CarerQoL (β -7.8; 95% CI: -13.3 – -2.3). Female caregivers were 3.0 times more likely to experience relational problems (aOR 3.02; 95% CI 1.08-8.43). Caregivers provided care at 6 months were associated with physical health problems (aOR 2.54; 95% CI 1.05-6.14). Conclusions: Informal caregivers, especially partners, are faced with providing care of greater intensity to elderly patients during the first six months after a hip fracture. The CarerQoL was not associated with the intensity of the provided informal care. However, this study shows that a considerable group of informal caregivers for elderly patients with a hip fracture experienced relational, physical and mental health problems that stemmed from providing intensive informal care during the first six months

Effect of frailty on quality of life in elderly patients after hip fracture:A longitudinal study

Objectives The aims of this study were to examine the pattern of changes over time in health status (HS) and quality of life (QoL) in the first year after hip fracture and to quantify the association between frailty at the onset of hip fracture and the change in HS and QoL 1 year later. The major hypothesis was that frailty, a clinical state of increased vulnerability, is a good predictor of QoL in patients recovering from hip fracture. Design Prospective, observational, follow-up cohort study. Setting Secondary care. Ten participating centres in Brabant, the Netherlands. Participants 1091 patients entered the study and 696 patients completed the study. Patients with a hip fracture aged 65 years and older or proxy respondents for patients with cognitive impairment were included in this study. Main outcome measures The primary outcomes were HS (EuroQol-5 Dimensions questionnaire) and capability well-being (ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people). Prefracture frailty was defined with the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), with GFI >= 4 indicating frailty. Participants were followed up at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after hospital admission. Results In total, 371 patients (53.3%) were considered frail. Frailty was negatively associated with HS (beta -0.333; 95% CI -0.366 to -0.299), self-rated health (beta -21.9; 95% CI -24.2 to -19.6) and capability well-being (beta -0.296; 95% CI -0.322 to -0.270) in elderly patients 1 year after hip fracture. After adjusting for confounders, including death, prefracture HS, age, prefracture residential status, prefracture mobility, American Society of Anesthesiologists grading and dementia, associations were weakened but remained significant. Conclusions We revealed that frailty is negatively associated with QoL 1 year after hip fracture, even after adjusting for confounders. This finding suggests that early identification of prefracture frailty in patients with a hip fracture is important for prognostic counselling, care planning and the tailoring of treatment

Health status and psychological outcomes after trauma: A prospective multicenter cohort study

Introduction Survival after trauma has considerably improved. This warrants research on non-fatal outcome. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with both short and long-term health status (HS) after trauma and to describe the recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes during 24 months of follow-up. Methods Hospitalized patients with all types of injuries were included. Data were collected at 1 week 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-trauma. HS was assessed with the EuroQol-5D-3L (EQ-5D3L) and the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and 3 (HUI2/3). For the screening of symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression, the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) subscale anxiety (HADSA) and subscale depression (HADSD) were used. Recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes were examined with linear mixed model analyses. Results A total of 4,883 patients participated (median age 68 (Interquartile range 53–80); 50% response rate). The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) pre-injury EQ-5D-3L score was 0.85 (0.23). One week post-trauma, mean (SD) EQ-5D-3L, HUI2 and HUI3 scores were 0.49 (0.32), 0.61 (0.22) and 0.38 (0.31), respectively. These scores significantly improved to 0.77 (0.26), 0.77 (0.21) and 0.62 (0.35), respectively, at 24 months. Most recovery occurred up until 3 months. At long-term follow-up, patients of higher age, with comorbidities, longer hospital stay, lower extremity fracture and spine injury showed lower HS. The mean (SD) scores of the IES, HADSA and HADSD were respectively 14.80 (15.80), 4.92 (3.98) and 5.00 (4.28), respectively, at 1 week post-trauma and slightly improved over 24 months post-trauma to 10.35 (14.72), 4.31 (3.76) and 3.62 (3.87), respectively. Discussion HS and psychological symptoms improved over time and most improvements occurred within 3 months post-trauma. The effects of severity and type of injury faded out over time. Patients frequently reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02508675

Development and validation of the Brabant Hip Fracture Score for 30-day and 1-year mortality

Background: Hip fractures in the elderly are associated with advanced comorbidities and high mortality rates. Mortality prediction models can support clinicians in tailoring treatment for medical decision making in frail elderly patients. The aim of this study was to develop and internally validate the Brabant Hip Fracture Score, for 30-day (BHFS-30) and 1-year mortality (BHFS-365) after hip fracture. Material and methods: A cohort study was conducted in 2 hospitals on operatively treated patients of 65 years and older with a hip fracture. Manual backward multivariable logistic regression was used to select independent predictors of 30-day and 1-year mortality. Internal validation was performed using bootstrapping techniques. Model performance was assessed with: (1) discrimination via the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC); (2) explained variance via Nagelkerke’s R 2 ; (3) calibration via Hosmer-Lemeshow (H&L) test and calibration plots. Results: Independent predictors of 30-day mortality were: age, gender, living in an institution, Hb, respiratory disease, diabetes and malignancy. In addition, cognitive frailty and renal insufficiency, were selected in the BHFS-365. Both models showed acceptable discrimination after internal validation (AUC = 0.71 and 0.75). The Hosmer-Lemeshow test indicated no lack of fit (p > 0.05). Discussion: We demonstrated that the internally validated and easy to use BHFS in surgically treated elderly patients after a hip fracture showed acceptable discrimination and adequate calibration. In clinical practice a cutoff of BHFS-30 ⩾ 24 could identify frail elderly patients at high risk for early mortality and could support clinicians, patients and families in tailoring treatment for medical decision making

Health status and psychological outcomes after trauma: A prospective multicenter cohort study.

IntroductionSurvival after trauma has considerably improved. This warrants research on non-fatal outcome. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with both short and long-term health status (HS) after trauma and to describe the recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes during 24 months of follow-up.MethodsHospitalized patients with all types of injuries were included. Data were collected at 1 week 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-trauma. HS was assessed with the EuroQol-5D-3L (EQ-5D-3L) and the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and 3 (HUI2/3). For the screening of symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression, the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) subscale anxiety (HADSA) and subscale depression (HADSD) were used. Recovery patterns of HS and psychological outcomes were examined with linear mixed model analyses.ResultsA total of 4,883 patients participated (median age 68 (Interquartile range 53-80); 50% response rate). The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) pre-injury EQ-5D-3L score was 0.85 (0.23). One week post-trauma, mean (SD) EQ-5D-3L, HUI2 and HUI3 scores were 0.49 (0.32), 0.61 (0.22) and 0.38 (0.31), respectively. These scores significantly improved to 0.77 (0.26), 0.77 (0.21) and 0.62 (0.35), respectively, at 24 months. Most recovery occurred up until 3 months. At long-term follow-up, patients of higher age, with comorbidities, longer hospital stay, lower extremity fracture and spine injury showed lower HS. The mean (SD) scores of the IES, HADSA and HADSD were respectively 14.80 (15.80), 4.92 (3.98) and 5.00 (4.28), respectively, at 1 week post-trauma and slightly improved over 24 months post-trauma to 10.35 (14.72), 4.31 (3.76) and 3.62 (3.87), respectively.DiscussionHS and psychological symptoms improved over time and most improvements occurred within 3 months post-trauma. The effects of severity and type of injury faded out over time. Patients frequently reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02508675