RESUMO
PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine 1) functional status at 2 months after hip fracture surgery 2) health care utilization after a fall episode and 3) fear of falling experienced during first 2 months after a fall episode. METHOD: With a convenient sample of 99 elderly from six university or general hospitals with hip fracture from a fall, data were collected at 2-3 days before discharge and at 2 months after hip fracture surgery. RESULT: 1) At 2 months after hip fracture from a fall, significant proportion (25.3%) of elderly was not able to walk indoors. 2) Average length of hospital stay was 27.6 days with a range of 8 to 86 days. About 51% subjects received physical therapy during hospital stay, and only 6.1% subjects received physical therapy following discharge from the hospital. 3) Significant proportion (72.7%) had fear of falling after the fall episode. About 51% reported that they restricted their activities because they had fear of falling. CONCLUSION: Fall is a dreaded event which result in loss of independence and restriction of activity. Development and application of fall prevention program is critical especially for those with risk factors of fall.