Incidence, Quality of Care, and Mortality in Hip Fracture Patients in the Course of the COVID Pandemic: A Population-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: We assessed the incidence, quality of in-hospital care, and mortality for hip fracture (HF) patients in Denmark before and during the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic.

METHODS: We obtained data from the Danish registries in the COVID period (March 11, 2020 to January 27, 2021, overall and in 5 periods) and compared it to a pre-COVID period (March 13, 2019 to March 10, 2020). We calculated the proportion of patients (%) that have fulfilled all the relevant quality indicators (a composite score of 100%) and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for 30-day mortality.

RESULTS: The incidence of HF was 5.7 per 1 000 person-years both in pre-COVID and COVID periods. About 35% of patients had a composite score of 100% in the COVID period compared to 28% in the pre-COVID period (proportion ratio 1.23 [95% CI: 1.17-1.30]). Fulfillment of all individual quality indicators was similar or higher in the COVID period. 30-day mortality was 9.5% in pre-COVID period, compared to 10.8% in the COVID period (HR 1.15 [95% CI: 1.02-1.30]). HRs varied from 1.07 (95% CI: 0.89-1.29) to 1.31 (95% CI: 1.06-1.62) in 5 COVID periods. In-hospital mortality was 4% in pre-COVID versus 4.4% in COVID period.

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of HF in Denmark remained unchanged. The quality of in-hospital care was higher in the COVID compared to pre-COVID period. Unfortunately, 30-day mortality was also higher, highlighting the importance of recognizing diversity of social networks, home support, and digital health intervention after discharge for outcome of HF patients.