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Wealth index is significantly associated with the early phase of fracture healing among fractured patients at the University of Gondar Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

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Abstract

Introduction

Bone fracture is a cause of 5 million annual injuries globally. It contributes to profound physical impairment, a reduction in quality of life, long hospitalization time, and reduced institutional care. The socioeconomical impact of bone fracture will be high in the next 50 years in developing countries, including Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the factors associated with the early phase of fracture healing among fractured adult patients at the University of Gondar Specialized hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was done from the previous institution-based prospective follow-up study from March to June 2015. An interviewer-administered pretested and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Early ossification of fractured bone was defined when the bone was ossified/calcified within 1 month of the fracture using X-ray findings. Data were entered into EpiInfo version 3.5.3 software and exported to SPSS version 20 for Windows for further analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to find factors associated with early ossification of a fractured bone. In the multivariable model, variables that had a p–value of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Also, a 95% CI for odds ratios was calculated to see the degree of association.

Results

In total, 118 participants with a bone fracture participated in this study. Of all, 36.4% of them had ossified bone during the early phase of bone healing. Dietary diversity score (DDS) [AOR = 18.6, 95% CI (4.10–84.34)], the type of fractured bone [AOR: = 0.13, 95% CI (0.03–0.50)], and household wealth index [AOR = 8.6, 95% CI (1.51–49.05)] were independently associated with the early phase of fractured bone healing/ossification.

Conclusion

Bone ossification during the first month of fracture was low. Dietary diversity score, type of fractured bone, and household wealth index were the factors associated with the early phase of bone ossification. So, improving dietary practice after the incident is essential. Also, health care providers will have to consider the fractured bone type and household assets during the clinical intervention for fractured bone.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express our sincere gratitude to those study participants for their willingness to participate in this study.

Funding

We did not accept any financial support for this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Care and Counseling, University of Gondar Specialized Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Yalelet Fentaw Shiferaw

  2. Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia

    Melaku Tadege Engidaw

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Mohammed Kedir

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Adino Tesfahun Tsegaye

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  1. Yalelet Fentaw Shiferaw
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  2. Melaku Tadege Engidaw
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  3. Mohammed Kedir
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  4. Adino Tesfahun Tsegaye
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Contributions

YFS and MTE designed the study, carried out statistical analysis, and writing this manuscript. MK and ATT participated in the proposal writing, reviewing, and approval. Finally, all the authors read, commented on, and approved this manuscript before sending it for publication.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yalelet Fentaw Shiferaw or Melaku Tadege Engidaw.

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Conflict of interest

We, the authors, declare that there is no computing interest.

Ethics approval

An ethical clearance letter was obtained from the institutional review boards of the University of Gondar and the Institute of Public Health (IPH). We obtained a permission letter from the hospital administrative body. Informed written consent was obtained from each study participant after explaining the purpose of the study. The participant's ability to withdraw from the study at any time was disclosed unequivocally. Moreover, the confidentiality of the information was assured by removing personal identifiers during the primary data collection. Counselling related to dietary intake was given to all study participants at the end of the data collection.

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Shiferaw, Y.F., Engidaw, M.T., Kedir, M. et al. Wealth index is significantly associated with the early phase of fracture healing among fractured patients at the University of Gondar Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. J Public Health (Berl.) 31, 583–590 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01559-1

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