Thomas Johannesson Hjelholt, who defended his PhD thesis today, has conducted four studies on the associations between hip fracture and stroke.

Proximal femur fracture and acute stroke are common conditions among older persons. Both have an unfavorable prognosis due to high mortality, reduced mobility, and increased dependence. In his thesis, Thomas J. Hjelholt investigated risk factors for postfracture stroke and developed a prediction model for postfracture mortality. He also examined the impact of a prefracture stroke history on the prognosis following hip fracture in terms of mortality and recurrent fracture.

All studies were population-based cohort studies based on the Danish Multidisciplinary Hip Fracture Registry. Thomas J. Hjelholt and colleagues found a high risk of postoperative stroke in patients with hip fracture, and the cardiovascular risk profile evaluated with the CHA2DS2-VASc score was a useful tool to evaluate the magnitude of the ischemic stroke risk. The researchers developed a novel prediction model to estimate 1-year mortality risk in patients with hip fracture, visualized as an intuitive risk chart. Finally, they established that a prefracture stroke history is an independent risk factor for mortality, whereas the risk of a recurrent fracture is modified by patient mobility.