Older men with hip fractures 3.5 times likelier to die early

Older individuals, especially men, with hip fractures are more than 3.5 times more likely to die within 12 months as compared to their non-injured counterparts, warns a recent study.

The findings suggested that hip fracture was likely to be a contributory factor in 72 percent of mortality within 12 months after the index hospital admission.

Excess mortality risk at 12 months was higher in males than in females, and in the 65-74-year age group compared to older age groups.

A study looked at the 12-month mortality of older persons presenting to hospitals in Australia with hip fracture.

It is the first large population-based matched cohort study exploring excess mortality risk from hip fracture in the Australian population while accounting for pre-injury comorbid conditions.

The team linked hospital and mortality data from four Australian states.

For 9,748 individuals aged 65 years and older who had a hospital admission with a primary diagnosis of hip fracture in 2009 were matched 1:1 on age, sex, and postcode of residence with a cohort of non-injured individuals selected from the electoral roll.

The findings indicated that individuals with hip fracture were more than 3.5 times more likely to die within 12 months compared to their non-injured counterparts.

Co-study author Dr Reidar P. Lystad from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University said, "With an aging population in Australia, the burden of hip fractures is expected to increase in the coming decades."

"Our findings suggest that with the hip fracture trauma itself a main predictor of excess mortality, efforts may best be directed at primary and secondary prevention of the fracture itself," Lystad added.

The research appears in Archives of Osteoporosis journal.