Home › Research › How common it is
Mortality and cause of death in hip fracture patients aged 65 or older: a population-based study
Panula J, Pihlajamäki H, Mattila VM, Jaatinen P, Vahlberg T, Aarnio P, Kivelä SL.. BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2011-05-20
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background The high mortality of hip fracture patients is well documented, but sex- and cause-specific mortality after hip fracture has not been extensively studied. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate mortality and cause of death in patients after hip fracture surgery and to compare their mortality and cause of death to those in the general population. Methods Records of 428 consecutive hip fracture patients were collected on a population-basis and data on the general population comprising all Finns 65 years of age or older were collected on a cohort-basis. Cause of death was classified as follows: malignant neoplasms, dementia, circulatory disease, respiratory disease, digestive system disease, and other. Results Mean follow-up was 3.7 years (range 0-9 years). Overall 1-year postoperative mortality was 27.3% and mortality after hip fracture at the end of the follow-up was 79.0%. During the follow-up, age-adjusted mortality after hip fracture surgery was higher in men than in women with hazard ratio (HR) 1.55 and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.21-2.00. Among hip surgery patients, the most common causes of death were circulatory diseases, followed by dementia and Alzheimer's disease. After hip fracture, men were more likely than women to die from respiratory disease, malignant neoplasm, and circulatory disease. During the follow-up, all-cause age- and sex-standardized mortality after hip fracture was 3-fold higher than that of the general population and included every cause-of-death category. Conclusion During the study period, the risk of mortality in hip fracture patients was 3-fold higher than that in the general population and included every major cause of death.
Key findings
- Results Mean follow-up was 3.7 years (range 0-9 years).
- Overall 1-year postoperative mortality was 27.3% and mortality after hip fracture at the end of the follow-up was 79.0%.
Why it matters
After a hip fracture, older patients had high death rates, and dementia and Alzheimer's disease were among the most common causes of death. This describes outcomes after hip fracture and does not test any treatment or prevention for dementia.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Alzheimer's in numbers →
Study details
- Effect size27.3%; 79.0%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC musculoskeletal disorders) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders: journal h-index 168 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 597 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 35.1 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 16.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 123 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Sirkka‐Liisa Kivelä: h-index 56 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Turku: institution h-index 626 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21599967) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1186/1471-2474-12-105
- PubMed: 21599967
- Original source →
- Free full text: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Panula, J., Pihlajamäki, H., Mattila, V. M., Jaatinen, P., Vahlberg, T., Aarnio, P., et al. (2011). Mortality and cause of death in hip fracture patients aged 65 or older: a population-based study. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-12-105
Vancouver
Panula J, Pihlajamäki H, Mattila VM, Jaatinen P, Vahlberg T, Aarnio P, et al. Mortality and cause of death in hip fracture patients aged 65 or older: a population-based study. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. 2011. doi:10.1186/1471-2474-12-105. PMID: 21599967.
BibTeX
@article{panula2011-21599967,
author = {Panula, J. and Pihlajamäki, H. and Mattila, V. M. and Jaatinen, P. and Vahlberg, T. and Aarnio, P. and Kivelä, S. L.},
title = {{Mortality and cause of death in hip fracture patients aged 65 or older: a population-based study}},
journal = {BMC musculoskeletal disorders},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2474-12-105},
pmid = {21599967},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-12-105}
}
Related studies in How common it is
Also tagged “delirium”
858 studies in the library carry the topic tag “delirium”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 858 tagged studies.