For an elderly individual, falling and fracturing or breaking a hip can be the beginning of the end. Often elderly individuals will never recover to full function after seriously injuring their hip. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society something as simple as a positive outlook on life can increase the chance life will restore to normal following a hip injury.
In the study more than 430 men and women who were hospitalized following a single hip injury were questioned about their general outlook on life and for any depressive symtpoms. Then each of the subjects were put through various performance tests/skills to determine their overall physical function,which was compared to pre-injury function.
They found that a large percentage of subjects with a greater positive outlook returned to pre-injury function, while those with a depressive mood did not. Positive attitude improved various performance tests including walking speed and standing from a chair. Subjects with a low positive outlook also functioned to a lesser degree than the high positive outlook patients, but did score higher than the depressed mood patients.
The study is the first to show that something as simple as a positive outlook can improve recovery. Positive outlook is defined as reporting general happiness, enjoying life, and feeling good about the future. For the elderly subjects in this study, attitude alone made such an impact on the ability to return to the pre-injury state.
Physician and healthcare providers as well as family members can take special care to nuture outlook and attitude in their elderly who suffer serious injuries such as hip fracture. Perhaps counseling or additional office visits to address mood and depressive symptoms could make a great differnce in their future.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on September 12, 2006 11:19 PM
