Barriers to nutritional intake in patients with acute hip fracture: time to treat malnutrition as a disease and food as a medicine?

Inadequate energy and protein intake leads to malnutrition; a clinical disease not without consequence post acute hip fracture. Data detailing malnutrition prevalence, incidence, and intake adequacy varies widely in this patient population. The limited success of reported interventional strategies may result from poorly defined diagnostic criteria, failure to address root causes of inadequate intake, or errors associated with selection bias.

Dedicated hip fracture service: implementing a novel model of care.

Background: Hip fracture is a common clinical problem with historically high morbidity and mortality, and various model of acute and subacute care have been employed. We describe 12-month results from the first dedicated hip fracture unit in Australia, and compare it with other models of care both locally and internationally.

Methods: This was performed as a prospective uncontrolled study over a 12-month period.