SIGNAL

Background

Hip fracture is a common and serious injury, mainly affecting older people. Although most patients survive the operation itself, many die in the months and years that follow. Death rates within 30 days of surgery are routinely reported in England and Wales through the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD). However, these figures do not fully show how the risk of death after hip fracture changes over time, or how much of that risk is due specifically to the fracture rather than to general changes in population health.

The aim of this study is to measure the excess mortality associated with hip fracture surgery. Excess mortality means the number of deaths above what would normally be expected for people of the same age and sex in the general population. By comparing hip fracture patients with national life expectancy data, this study will show how long the increased risk of death lasts after surgery, when it is highest, and whether outcomes have improved over the past decade.

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