The effect of co-morbidity on the rehabilitation process in elderly patients after hip fracture.

We conducted a prospective observational study involving patients older than 65 years admitted for rehabilitation to the Geriatric Department of a university hospital after surgical treatment of hip fracture. We assessed functional status before, during and at the end of rehabilitation and as a measure of success of rehabilitation we calculated the Montebello Rating Factor Score (MRFS). In an attempt to make this index more reflective of changes in rehabilitative status we revised it accordingly. We measured demographic characteristics, cognitive function, affective status and co-morbidity. Data were collected from 102 patients with average age 79.0+/-6.5 years over a period of 12 months. In the uinvariant analysis, cognitive status, length of stay in Geriatric Department and co-morbidity were found as significant predictors of rehabilitation success. In the linear regression only Severity Index (SI) of Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G) was found as a statistically significant predictor of rehabilitation outcome. In our context, we found that only co-morbidity (as measured by CIRS) is the best predictor of rehabilitation outcome of elderly patients after surgical repair of hip fracture.