Red cell distribution width is a short-term mortality predictor in older adults with hip osteoporotic fracture

Objective: To study the relationship between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and short-term mortality of hip fracture in the elderly. Methods: A retrospective cohort of electronic medical records at a single hospital over a 2-year period between 2020 to 2021. We received the records of 233 patients aged > 50 years who suffered from hip osteoporotic fracture. The clinical data including patients demographics, comorbidities at the time of admission, type of surgery, blood examination, 3-months mortality, 6-months mortality and 1-year mortality. The relationship between RDW and short-term mortality of hip osteoporotic fracture were analyzed. The cohore was then divided into two groups based on their RDW levels at the time of admission: low(RDW＜13.6%) and high(RDW≥13.6%). Results: The mean age was 78.03±12.09 years; 64.81% were woman. At admission, 80 patients(34.33%) had high RDW levels and 153 patients(65.67%) had low RDW levels. There were no statistically significant between the groups with regard to sex, type of operation, duration of surgery and hospitalization length. Patents with high RDW had more comorbidities (p<0.05) when compared to patients with low RDW levels. All-cause mortality was greater for patients with high RDW levels, at 3 months (p<0.05), 6 months (p<0.05), and 12 months (p<0.05). Conclusion: Red cell distribution width is significantly related with short-term mortality in hip osteoporotic fracture. The larger value of RDW, the higher risk of mortality.