A national quality registers as a tool to audit items of the fundamentals of care to older patients with hip fractures

摘要

Background. The Swedish healthcare system has a unique resource in the national quality registers. A national quality registry contains individualised data concerning patient problems, medical interventions and outcomes after treatment, within all healthcare settings. Many healthcare settings face challenges related to the way they deliver the fundamentals of care, therefore, it is important to audit the outcome. It is estimated that the number of people aged 80 years or older will have almost quadrupled between 2000 and 2050. Hip fracture has been recognised as the most serious consequence of osteoporosis because of the risk of its complications, which include pain, acute confusional state, pressure ulcers, infections, disability, diminished quality of life and mortality. The aim of this study was therefore to explore if and how a national quality register can be used as an audit tool for the fundamentals of care when it concerns older patients suffering from a hip fracture. Method. For this study we retrospectively selected and audited variables retrieved from the national quality hip fracture register. The audit included 1083 patients 80 years and older, consecutively admitted to a university hospital in the south of Sweden, in 2011-2013.