Objective: To investigate the association of nutritional risk with gait function and activities of daily living (ADLs) in older adult patients with hip fractures.
Methods: The retrospective data of older adult patients diagnosed with hip fractures who visited the recovery-phase rehabilitation ward between January 2019 and December 2022 were reviewed. Nutritional risk was evaluated using the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index; gait function and ADLs were assessed using the modified Harris Hip Score subitem and Functional Independence Measure, respectively. Multivariate linear regression and path analysis with structural equation modeling were used to examine the factors associated with ADLs and the associations among the study variables.
Results: This study included 206 participants (172 females and 34 males; mean age, 85.0±7.3 years). In the multivariate analysis, gait function (β=0.488, p<0.001), cognitive function (β=0.430, p<0.001), and surgery (β=-0.143, p<0.001) were identified as independent factors. Pathway analysis revealed that nutritional risk was not directly correlated with ADLs but was directly associated with gait and cognitive functions. Gait and cognitive functions, in turn, were directly related to ADLs.
Conclusion: Nutritional risk was found to be associated with ADLs through an intermediary of gait and cognitive functions.
Keywords: Activities of daily living; Cognitive function; Gait; Hip fractures; Nutrition assessment.