Distal and/or Proximal Joint Stiffness Among Post-Fracture Patients Treated in University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Post-Fracture Patients in Gondar, Ethiopia (n=230)

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Post-Fracture Stiffness
				Yes	No
Age (years)	18–35	158	68.7	43 (27.2%)	115 (72.8%)
	36–45	43	18.7	9 (20.9%)	34 (79.1%)
	>45	29	12.6	7 (24.1%)	22 (75.9%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Sex	Female	59	25.7	6 (10.2%)	53 (89.8%)
	Male	171	74.3	53 (31.0%)	118 (69.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Handedness	Right	212	92.2	55 (25.9%)	157 (74.1%)
	Left	18	7.8	4 (22.2%)	14 (77.8%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Residence	Urban	114	49.6	22 (19.3%)	92 (80.7%)
	Rural	116	50.4	37 (31.9%)	79 (68.1%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Educational level	Degree and above	19	8.3	4 (21.1%)	15 (78.9%)
	Diploma	18	7.8	1 (5.6%)	17 (94.4%)
	Secondary	82	35.7	22 (26.8%)	60 (73.2%)
	Primary	67	29.1	18 (26.9%)	49 (73.1%)
	No formal	44	19.1	14 (31.8%)	30 (68.2%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Occupation	Military	159	69.1	46 (28.9%)	113 (71.1%)
	Farmer	49	21.3	12 (24.5%)	37 (75.5%)
	Other	22	9.6	1 (4.5%)	21 (95.5%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
BMI (kg/m^2)	<18.5	28	12.2	7 (25.0%)	21 (75.0%)
	18.5–24.9	181	78.7	47 (26.0%)	134 (74.0%)
	25–29.9	21	9.1	5 (23.8%)	16 (76.2%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Marital status	Currently married	100	43.5	33 (33.0%)	67 (67.0%)
	Single	116	50.4	24 (20.7%)	92 (79.3%)
	Other	14	6.1	2 (14.3%)	12 (85.7%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Religion	Orthodox	176	76.5	47 (26.7%)	129 (73.3%)
	Protestant	19	8.3	2 (10.5%)	17 (89.5%)
	Muslim	35	15.2	10 (28.6%)	25 (71.4%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)

Table 2 Behavioral Characteristics of Post-Fracture Patients in Gondar, Ethiopia (n=230)

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percentage	Post-Fracture Stiffness
Cigarette smoking				Yes	No
	Non-smoker	207	90.0	52 (25.1%)	155 (74.9%)
	Previous smoker	4	1.7	1 (25.0%)	3 (75.0%)
	Current smoker	19	8.3	6 (31.6%)	13 (68.4%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Alcohol use	Non-alcohol user	190	82.6	50 (26.3%)	140 (73.7%)
	Previous alcohol user	21	9.1	3 (14.3%)	18 (85.7%)
	Current alcohol user	19	8.3	6 (31.6%)	13 (68.4%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Physical exercise	Yes	117	50.9	38 (32.5%)	79 (67.5%)
	No	113	49.1	21 (18.6%)	92 (81.4%)
	Total	230	100	171 (74.3%)	59 (25.7%)

Table 3 Clinical and Medical Comorbidity Characteristics of Post-Fracture Patients in Gondar, Ethiopia (n=230)

Variable	Category	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)	Post-Fracture Stiffness
				Yes	No
Comorbidity	Musculoskeletal disorder	90	39.1	15 (16.7%)	75 (83.3%)
	Psychiatric disorder	8	3.5	3 (37.5%)	5 (62.5%)
	Other	22	9.6	5 (22.7%)	17 (77.3%)
	No	110	47.8	36 (32.7%)	74 (67.3%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Type of fracture	Open	170	73.9	50 (29.4%)	111 (70.6%)
	Closed	60	26.1	9 (15.0%)	51 (85.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Cause of fracture	Gunshot	46	20.0	6 (13.0%)	40 (87.0%)
	RTA	143	62.2	51 (35.7%)	92 (64.3%)
	Other	41	17.8	2 (4.9%)	39 (95.1%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Site of fracture	Right upper limb	54	23.5	10 (18.5%)	44 (81.5%)
	Left upper limb	32	13.9	7 (21.9%)	25 (78.1%)
	Right lower limb	76	33.0	17 (22.4%)	59 (77.6%)
	Left lower limb	69	29.5	25 (36.8%)	43 (63.2%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Location of fracture	Above elbow	52	22.6	12 (23.1%)	40 (76.9%)
	Below elbow	32	13.9	7 (21.9%)	25 (78.1%)
	Above knee	64	27.8	15 (23.4%)	49 (76.6%)
	Below knee	82	35.7	25 (30.5%)	57 (69.5%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Duration of hospital stay after treatment (days)	<30	147	63.9	44 (29.9%)	103 (70.1%)
	30–90	73	31.7	14 (19.2%)	59 (80.8%)
	>90	10	4.3	1 (10.0%)	9 (90.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Duration of fracture (months)	3–4	91	39.6	33 (63.7%)	58 (36.3%)
	>4–5	113	49.1	23 (20.4%)	90 (79.6%)
	>5	26	11.3	3 (11.5%)	23 (88.5%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Duration of immobilization (days)	21–60	199	86.5	51 (25.6%)	148 (74.4%)
	61–90	26	11.3	7 (26.9%)	19 (73.1%)
	>90	5	2.2	1 (20.0%)	4 (80.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Means of fracture management	External fixation	137	59.6	28 (20.4%)	109 (79.6%)
	Plaster of Paris	76	33.0	23 (30.7%)	52 (69.3%)
	Internal fixation	17	7.4	8 (44.4%)	10 (55.6%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Complication after hospitalization	Yes	65	28.3	11 (16.9%)	54 (83.1%)
	No	165	71.7	48 (29.1%)	117 (70.9%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Pain (VAS)	1–3	108	47.0	31 (28.7%)	77 (71.3%)
	4–6	92	40.0	19 (20.65%)	73 (79.35%)
	7–10	30	13.0	9 (30.0%)	21 (70.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Awareness about PT	Yes	86	37.4	8 (9.3%)	78 (90.7%)
	No	144	62.6	51 (35.4%)	93 (64.6%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Currently on PT follow-up	Yes	70	30.4	4 (5.7%)	66 (94.3%)
	No	160	69.6	55 (34.4%)	105 (65.6%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Prescribed assistive device	Yes	105	45.7	14 (13.3%)	91 (86.7%)
	No	125	54.3	45 (36.0%)	80 (64.0%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Currently uses assistive device	Yes	86	37.4	6 (7.0%)	80 (93.0%)
	No	144	62.6	53 (36.8%)	91 (63.2%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)
Afraid to move affected part	Yes	146	63.5	36 (24.7%)	110 (75.3%)
	No	84	36.5	23 (27.4%)	61 (72.6%)
	Total	230	100	59 (25.7%)	171 (74.3%)

Table 4 Factors Associated with Post-Fracture Stiffness Among Post-Fracture Individuals at Gondar University, Ethiopia (n=230)

Variable	Category	Univariate COR (95% CI)	Multivariate AOR (95% CI)
Gender	Female	1 ref	1 ref
	Male	3.97 (1.61–9.80)	0.58 (0.16–2.05)
Residence	Urban	1 ref	1 ref
	Rural	0.51 (0.28–0.943.85)	1.57 (0.65–3.77)
Marital status	Married	1 ref	1 ref
	Single	2.96 (0.63–13.98)	0.59 (0.24–1.48)
	Others	1.56 (0.33–7.47)	0.67 (0.09–4.57)
Physical exercise	Yes	2.11 (1.14–3.89)	0.58 (0.21–1.56)
	No	1 ref	1 ref
Educational level	No formal education	1.57 (0.49–6.25)	0.65 (0.03–2.44)
	Primary school	1.38 (0.40–4.70)	0.16 (0.20–2.44)
	Secondary school	1.3 (0.41–4.59)	0.18 (0.02–1.35)
	College diploma	0.22 (0.02–2.19)	0.11 (0.07–1.90)
	Degree and above	1 ref	1 ref
Fracture side	Right upper extremity	1 ref	1 ref
	Left upper extremity	0.39 (0.67–0.91)	0.91 (0.24–1.56)
	Right lower extremity	0.18 (0.17–1.27)	2.56 (0.74–8.83)
	Left lower extremity	0.50 (0.24–1.03)	10.83 (2.50–46.89)*
Means of fracture management	External fixation	1 ref	1 ref
	Plaster of Paris	0.32 (0.12–0.89)	2.42 (0.89–4.57)
	Internal fixation	0.55 (0.19–1.58)	2.90 (0.67–12.64)
Complication after hospitalization	Yes	0.49 (0.24–1.03)	0.53 (0.19–1.45)
	No	1 ref	1 ref
Awareness about physiotherapy	Yes	1 ref	1 ref
	No	0.19 (0.08–0.42)	1.42 (0.65–6.41)
Currently on physiotherapy follow-up	Yes	1 ref	1 ref
	No	0.12 (0.40–0.33)	6.72 (1.79–25.13)*
Uses assistive device	Yes	1 ref	1 ref
	No	0.27 (0.14–0.54)	11.95 (3.63–39.35)*

Notes: *Significant variable (p≤0.05); 1 ref, reference category.

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.