Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between intelligence and activities of daily living (ADL) at the survey time, on discharge from hospital, and before hip fracture among elderly persons who had suffered proximal femoral fracture (hip fracture). The subjects were 84 persons (average age 81.1 ± 7.1) who had suffered hip fracture, and their intelligence, ADL before hip fracture, ADL on discharge from hospital and at the survey time were assessed and analyzed for relationships. All of the ADL measures showed significant correlations with intelligence. Subjects with intelligence decline showed ADL significantly lower than before hip fracture on discharge from hospital and at the survey time, with marked declines in bathing, dressing, walking and toilet activities. In canonical correlation analysis, the first order variables were dressing, walking and toilet activities at the survey time and because these and similar variables had a large influence on ADL before hip fracture it was understood that these items correlated highly with intelligence. Among second order variables, bathing and eating showed different characteristics to the other variables. This study was conducted only on subjects receiving treatment at a single facility and the influence of regional variations and differences in treatments among facilities cannot be denied; thus we cannot deny the possibility of a different outcome if a study covering several facilities were conducted. Furthermore, there is a need to examine physical therapies which are effective at securing good ADL in patients with intelligence decline due to hip fracture, through the analysis of detailed assessment of difficulty of actual movements.
