One-year health and care costs after hip fracture for home-dwelling elderly patients in Norway: Results from the Trondheim Hip Fracture Trial

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the one-year health and care costs related to hip fracture for home-dwelling patients aged 70 years and older in Norway, paying specific attention to the status of the patients at the time of fracture and cost differences due to various patient pathways after fracture. Methods: Data on health and care service provision were extracted from hospital and municipal records and from national registries; data on unit costs were collected from the municipalities, hospital administrations and previously published studies. Four different patient pathways were identified and the total costs for subgroups of patients according to age, sex, fracture type and instrumental activity of daily living at fracture incidence were calculated. Descriptive statistics were used to identify cost estimates. Results: The mean total one-year costs per patient were EUR 68,376 and the costs for patients alive one year after hip fracture were EUR 71,719. The patients’ age and pre-fracture functional status contributed most to the total cost. Conclusions: On average, care costs accounted for more than 50% of the total cost; even for patients with good functional status before hip fracture, care costs accounted for 40% of the total cost compared with hospital costs of 38%. To reduce the financial costs of hip fractures in the care sector, the results point to the importance of preventive programmes to reduce the risk of hip fracture, but also to the importance of comprehensive geriatric care in the initial phase after a hip fracture.