Who Waits Longer for Hip Fracture Surgery?
Certain patient and system characteristics influence wait time. Our analyses showed, for example, that sex and the presence of comorbid illnesses are each related to how long a patient waits for hip fracture surgery once admitted to hospital. Specifically, men were less likely than women to undergo surgery on the day of or day after admission (63% versus 66%). Individuals with pre-admission comorbidities were also likely to have their surgery delayed. About 8% of patients in our analyses were transferred to a facility other than the one to which they were initially admitted. Patients who were transferred at least once were less likely to have surgery on the day of or day after admission (31% did so) than patients not transferred (68%). In addition, patients cared for in small hospitals were more likely to receive their hip fracture surgery on the day of or day after admission (74%) compared with patients admitted to medium and large hospitals (67%) or teaching hospitals (57%). Surgical
