[Usefulness of prensil strength as a predictor of functional abatement in patients over 60 years of age with hip fracture].

Abstract

Comprehensive geriatric assessment impacts on the preservation of functionality , affecting the quality of life of the patient. Low muscle mass, expressed as low grip strength, is a common condition that has shown great utility in predicting mortality, days of hospital stay, and early mobilization.

Objective: To describe the usefulness of grip strength as a predictor of functional loss in patients older than 60 years with hip fracture.

Material and methods: A prospective, observational, analytical, longitudinal cohort study in 60-year-old hospitalized patients with hip fracture, the grip strength was evaluated with a hydraulic dynamometer at admission and after surgery, with a follow-up at 30 days.

Results: The patients presented a significant decrease in grip strength at admission compared to grip strength at discharge (20.79 ± 4.75 vs. 15.45 ± 4.17 respectively). When evaluating muscle strength, it was found that those patients with functional loss had a higher score of grip strength at admission (21.42 ± 5.26, p = 0.04), and grip strength at discharge (16.14 ± 4.52 p = 0.013). For each day of hospital stay, 0.493 kg of muscle strength decreases.

Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between the days of hospital stay with the decrease in muscle strength in addition to a positive correlation between the Barthel score and grip strength, which proposes that this parameter is an important factor to evaluate in the adult functionality approach.