Dietetic care of hip fracture patients across Australia: Are we doing enough?

Aim: To determine the composition of usual nutrition care provided by Australian dietitians to patients with a falls related femoral neck fracture. Methods: A cross-sectional survey administered via the World Wide Web using SurveyMonkey to dietitians across Australia. Results: One hundred and sixty-eight dietitians working with patients with a femoral neck fracture in Australia responded to the survey. Few dietitians (n = 7) indicated they worked in the community setting. Nutritional screening was used among respondents (n = 93), but 32/93 indicated they did not use a validated tool. Most commonly used interventions included strategies to increase intake of nutrients, such as provision of nourishing meals, snacks and oral supplements. Conclusions: Some concerns remain regarding provision of optimal nutritional care of femoral neck fracture patients in Australia. There were few respondents working in the community with falls related femoral neck fracture patients, with a greater number of dietitians working in the metropolitan area responding to the survey. The Dietitians working in this area are implementing a great variety of screening methods, with a large number using non-validated screening tools. Clearer guidelines for health professionals involved in femoral neck fracture aftercare would be beneficial to standardise care in this area. A useful first step for dietitians would be to advocate for the use of evidence-based practice resources in selection of site and age appropriate nutrition screening tools.