Blood protein linked to death after hip fracture in older adults
Over three years, 58.67% of patients with above-cutoff levels of the blood protein P-selectin died, compared with 23.88% below the cutoff.
Limit: Medication histories were missing for antiplatelet agents, anticoagulants, and statins, which affect soluble selectins
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study followed 431 adults older than 60 after surgery for hip fractures caused by minor trauma. Researchers at one center measured selectins, proteins that help cells stick together, in fasting blood samples collected on the first morning after admission, before surgery.
P-selectin levels above the study’s cutoff were linked to a greater risk of death over three years, even after adjustment for other measured factors. At three years, 38.67% of the above-cutoff group could walk independently, compared with 65.73% below the cutoff. A link between another selectin, E-selectin, and mortality did not persist after adjustment.
Why it matters
Hip fractures often lead to severe mobility loss and high long-term mortality in older adults, making reliable indicators of recovery and survival important.
Caveats
This single-center observational study cannot establish cause and effect. Death complicated the interpretation of walking recovery, and that association weakened among people who survived three years.
From the paper
- Participants
Prior to propensity score matching (PSM), the unmatched cohort comprised 431 patients, including 302 patients with a survival time of >3 year and 129 patients with a survival time of ≤3 year ( Table 1 ).
- Follow-up
To further investigate the prognostic significance of the dichotomised selectins, Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were conducted over the 36-month follow-up period.
- Result
Patients in the above-cutoff E-selectin group ( n = 139) experienced a significantly higher 3-year mortality rate than the below-cutoff group ( n = 292) (38.13% vs. 26.03%; RR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.10–1.95; p = 0.01) …
- Events by group
Patients in the above-cutoff E-selectin group ( n = 139) experienced a significantly higher 3-year mortality rate than the below-cutoff group ( n = 292) (38.13% vs. 26.03%; RR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.10–1.95; p = 0.01) …
Quoted word for word from the full text on frontiersin.org.
The paper
Nanyang Central Hospital
Frontiers in Medicine, Oct 27, 2026, Open access, CC BY
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