Economic cost of osteoporotic hip fractures in Singapore

Lee YHD, Lim YW, Lam KS
Correspondence: Dr Dave Lee Yee Han, davelyh@singnet.com.sg

ABSTRACT
Introduction The incidence of osteoporotic hip fractures in Singapore as well as in Asia will gradually increase with an ever ageing population. The objectives of this study were to understand the costs of hip fractures in our community and to analyse the various factors that lead to higher inpatient costs for hip fractures.
Methods We prospectively reviewed 80 elderly patients with osteoporotic hip fractures. The relevant patients’ clinical data was correlated with the inpatient hospitalisation costs. We reviewed the cost and management practices of hip fractures published in the literature and compared them with our findings.
Results We found that our patients treated surgically incurred lower costs and had a shorter inpatient stay compared to those treated conservatively. The mean hospitalisation cost for patients treated surgically was S$10,515 and the mean length of stay was 16 days. We found that the length of stay, a longer delay to surgery, male gender, having ASA 3 score, and development of postoperative complications led to higher inpatient hospital costs.
Conclusion With the identification of various clinical factors that are associated with high inpatient costs, we can further shorten our hip fracture patients’ stay as well as reduce the hospitalisation costs.

Keywords: cost-effective treatment, economic cost, hip fractures, hospitalisation costs, osteoporotic hip fractures, proximal femoral fractures
Singapore Med J 2008; 49(12): 980-984