Improving hip fracture care: A five-year review of the early contributors to the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine temporal trends (2016–2020) in hip fracture care in Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) hospitals that started providing patient-level data to the ANZ Hip Fracture Registry (ANZHFR) on/before 1 January 2016 (early contributors).

Methods

Retrospective cohort study of early contributor hospitals (n = 24) to the ANZHFR. The study cohort included patients aged ≥50 years admitted with a low trauma hip fracture between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020 (n = 26,937). Annual performance against 11 quality indicators and 30- and 365-day mortality were examined.

Results

Compared to 2016/2017, year-on-year improvements were demonstrated for preoperative cognitive assessment (2020: OR 3.57, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 3.29–3.87) and nerve block use prior to surgery (2020: OR 4.62, 95% CI 4.17–5.11). Less consistent improvements over time from 2016/2017 were demonstrated for emergency department (ED) stay of <4 h (2017; 2020), pain assessment ≤30 min of ED presentation (2020), surgery ≤48 h (2020) and bone protection medication prescribed on discharge (2017–2020; 2020 OR 2.22, 95% CI 2.03–2.42). The odds of sustaining a hospital-acquired pressure injury increased in 2019–2020 compared to 2016. The odds of receiving an orthogeriatric model of care and being offered the opportunity to mobilise on Day 1 following surgery fluctuated. There was a reduction in 365-day mortality in 2020 compared to 2016 (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74–0.98), whereas 30-day mortality did not change.

Conclusions

Several quality indicators improved over time in early contributor hospitals. Indicators that did not improve may be targets for future care improvement activities, including considering incentivised hip fracture care, which has previously been shown to improve care/outcomes. COVID-19 and reporting practices may have impacted the study findings.