Objective: To investigate the correlation between serum α-tocopherol levels and the recovery of physical function after hip fracture. Methods: One hundred and thirty-one patients over 60 years old who received hip fracture surgery at Xingning People’s Hospital from January 2014 to December 2016 and had 1-year follow-up were retrospectively collected. Serum α-tocopherol were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The physical function after hip fracture surgery was assessed by lower extremity gain scale (LEGS), six-minute walk distance (6MWD) and short form-36 physical functioning domain (SFPF). Results: The average level of α-tocopherol was (42.1±10.0) μmol/L, which rised to (51.3±13.8) μmol/L after 1-year follow-up. Furthermore, patients were grouped according to tertiles of baseline serum α-tocopherol levels. Patients in the highest tertile had higher scores of LEGS and SFPF at 2- and 6-month post-operative follow-up and higher scores of LEGS (T3 32.7±7.9, T2 25.2±6.5, T1 21.5±6.8, P<0.001), 6MWD (T3 219.6±68.2, T2 202.3±82.7, T1 177.4±73.4, P=0.034) and SFPF (T3 60.0±21.9, T2 51.3±18.7, T1 35.3±14.3, P<0.001) at 12 months when compared with the other two tertiles. Baseline α-tocopherol levels had positive correlation with LEGS, 6MWD and SFPF after 1-year follow-up, which still existed after multi-variate regression analysis. Also, the change of α-tocopherol levels was positively correlated with SFPF after 1-year follow-up. Conclusion: Serum α-tocopherol levels were closely related to the recovery of physical function after hip fracture. Patients with higher baseline levels of α-tocopherol had better recovery of physical function.