Good Mental Health Could Be Key to Hip Fracture Recovery

Many seniors suffer long-term health issues after a hip fracture, even after hip replacement surgeries.

Now, research shows that a patient’s mental health could be crucial to how well they bounce back in the years after these injuries.

“Addressing overall mental health during the recovery process from hip fractures is crucial,” concludes study senior author and Harvard University researcher Dr. Sarah Berry.

More than 300,000 older American adults are rushed to emergency departments each year for hip fracture, according to the researchers, and more than 500,000 hip replacement surgeries each year involve fractures as a contributing cause.

About 1 in 4 patients who’ve fallen and suffered a hip fracture will require long-term care in the year after their fall.

The new research looked at data on 129 women over the age of 64 who’d recently undergone a surgery to repair a fractured hip. The data were collected as part of a study led by Dr. Ellen Binder of Washington University in St Louis.

Berry and colleagues’ new analysis looked specifically at patient “resilience” following their hip fracture.

They looked at numerous mental health factors, including a patient’s education, thinking skills, mental health and depressive symptoms as measured on various tests.

Lower patient scores on what’s known as the Geriatric Depression Scale, as well as higher marks on the Global Mental Health Score, were each associated with better resilience following a hip fracture.

Overall, people rated as having “positive mental health” were 34% more likely to have higher post-fracture resilience, Berry and colleagues reported.

For researcher Berry, an associate scientist at Harvard’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, the take-home message is clear.

“This study underscores the need for comprehensive care approaches that integrate mental health support into rehabilitation programs for older adults recovering from hip fractures,” she said.

“By focusing on reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing mental well-being,” she added in a Harvard news release, “We can potentially increase psychological resilience, thereby maximizing recovery potential in older adults.”

The study was published recently in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

More information

Find out more about hip replacement surgery at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

SOURCE: Harvard University, news release, Jan. 30, 2025