Parker Mobility Score as a predictor of length of stay in patients with intra- and extracapsular hip fracture during the pandemic

INTRODUCTION: Preoperative mobility is frequently measured in hip fracture patients to evaluate surgical outcomes and may impact their length of stay (LOS). The Parker Mobility Score (PMS) is a validated method of quantifying a patient's mobility. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between preoperative PMS and LOS in hip fracture patients. We hypothesised that there is a correlation between preoperative PMS and LOS in a cohort of patients with hip fractures. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients admitted with hip fractures who underwent surgery in a single tertiary hospital between 2020 and 2021. Variables collected included LOS, type of fracture, type of surgery, age, gender and ethnicity. The PMS was used to assess preoperative mobility. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine associations between PMS and LOS, adjusting for demographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: A total of 579 patients were included. The mean age of patients was 80 years, and 67.4% were females. The mean LOS was 14 days. Long stayers were defined as patients with an LOS >10 days. Lower preoperative PMS was found to be a strong predictor of long stayers and remained significant after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, type of surgery and type of fracture in multivariable analysis (odds ratio 1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.24, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Preoperative PMS is a strong predictor of LOS in hip fracture patients. Integrating PMS assessments into preoperative evaluations can aid in identifying patients at risk of prolonged hospitalisation, enabling improved discharge planning and resource allocation.