Journal to a Muse

Another not-so-hip injury in the family















Today we received word that DH's father tripped, fell and didn't break, but fractured his hip.
First hospital visit didn't find the cause of his pain. RN daughter directed ER technicians to "look again" via CAT scan. Fracture found. FIL hospitalized. Will be told to stay off it. Yeah, right.
RN daughter said he's fallen several times, but tends not to to tell anybody. Asked hospital to have his head examined. Results pending.
I developed a morbid interest in morbidity. The facts are not for the faint of heart.

• 
  1.58-1.76 The likelihood of an elderly white male having an accident in FIL's neck of the woods compared to the national average.
• 91. The life expectancy in 2003 of a male who's reached 85 But there is also an .095172 probability that they would die within 12 months.
• Medications, bathing, dressing. The most common reasons the elderly go into Assisted Living Residences.
• 465 days. The predicted average length of stay in a nursing home on admission. The longer the person stays, the more likely their stay will get longer.

CONCLUSION: Compared with women, elderly men presenting with hip fracture have higher mortality and have more risk factors for osteoporosis. Like women with hip fracture, men are usually fragile, with pre-existing medical illness and fracture-related complications contributing to their overall poor outcomes.

What outcomes are linked to hip fractures?

• As many as 20% of hip fracture patients die within a year of their injury
  (Leibson et al. 2002).
• Most patients with hip fractures are hospitalized for
  about one week (Popovic 2001).
• Up to 25% of adults who lived independently
  before their hip fracture have to stay in a nursing home for at least a year
  after their injury (Magaziner et al. 2000).
• In 1991, Medicare costs for hip
  fractures were estimated to be $2.9 billion (CDC 1996).

Amazing what you can find on the web.