Quality of Life One Year After Surgically Treated Proximal Femur Fractures and Its Determinants: A EuroQol-5D-5L Based Evaluation
Abstract
Objective: This study evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) one year post-surgery in patients with proximal femur fractures using the EuroQol-5D-5L instrument, and identified the key predictors of QoL, including age, fracture type, postoperative complications, and physiotherapy adherence.
Material and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 95 patients aged 60–75 years who underwent operative management for proximal femoral fractures at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital. The EQ-5D-5L questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis (MRA) were employed to determine the influence of selected variables on EQ-5D-5L index scores.
Results: The mean EQ-5D-5L index score was 0.768±0.217. Longer physiotherapy adherence was significantly associated with higher QoL (p-value<0.001), while advancing age negatively impacted outcomes (p-value=0.002). Fracture type also showed a significant association (p-value=0.034), with femoral neck and head fractures yielding better outcomes than intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric types. The presence of complications showed a negative trend but was not statistically significant (p-value=0.081). The regression model explained 61.5% of the variance in QoL (Adjusted R²=0.598).
Conclusion: Physiotherapy adherence emerged as the strongest predictor of better post-surgical QoL, emphasizing the critical role of long-term rehabilitation. Age and fracture type also significantly influenced recovery outcomes. These findings highlight the need for personalized rehabilitation strategies and early intervention to enhance postoperative functional recovery in elderly hip fracture patients.
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