Research Paper on:
Senior Citizens, Cognition, and Hip Fractures

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
2000). One of every three white women older than 85 has suffered a hip fracture from a fall, which translates into an annual cost that exceeds by 100 times the  amounts being invested in research on this topic (Anonymous, 1990). Roughly 30 percent of adults aged 65 years and older fall at least once during each year, with hip fractures  being the most serious consequence of falls (Clemson, Cumming, and Roland, 1996). Several factors have been shown to be contributors to postoperative functional outcomes for hip fracture patients. These factors  include age, gender, prefracture functioning, and mental status (Feldt and Heeyoung, 2000). The following examination of hip fracture in the elderly demonstrates the connection between cognitive status and functional status  after treatment for a hip fracture. According to Feldt and Heeyoung (2000) a comparison of outcomes between cognitively intact and cognitively impaired patients with hip fracture demonstrated that those  patients who were cognitively impaired experienced a "poorer functional outcomes, a higher likelihood of being institutionalized following hip fracture, and higher mortality rates" (p. 35). Roughly 39 percent of  hip fracture patients have some degree of cognitive impairment, with the use of psychotropic medications being more common among fallers and hip fracture cases than among non-fallers (Clemson, Cumming, and  Roland, 1996). Langjolois, et al (1998) showed that weight loss was a factor in hip fracture in older men and found that lower mental status scores were one of the  factors typifying this group. Fox, et al (1999) considered the fact that persistent depression is considered to be a significant risk factor for poor recovery following hip fracture.  Their study was designed to clarify the relationship between depression and functionality at one year after a hip fracture incident (Fox, et al, 1999). The study involved 272 patients,