A retrospective analysis of the outcomes in 360 patients with fractures of the hip showed return to preinjury ambulatory status in 51 per cent. One year after injury 27 per cent of the patients had died and 22 per cent were non-ambulatory. For the first eight months after injury the death rate in the fracture population exceeded that of the population at large, while afterward it was the same. Factors that increased the probability of death and non-ambulation included advanced age, preoperative presence of cerebral dysfunction, and male sex.