Hip Fracture Risks Linger After Recovery

March 15, 2010 -- The risks associated with hip fractures may linger long
after the initial recovery period is over, especially for men.
A new report shows the risk of death is five to eight times higher in the
first three months after hip fracture for older adults. This risk diminishes
substantially during the first two years after hip fracture in men and
women.
But researchers say it does not return to normal, even after 10 years of
follow-up, and men appear to be at greater risk.
"At any given age, excess mortality after hip fracture is higher in men than
in women," write researcher Patrick Haentjens, MD, PhD, of the Center for
Outcomes Research, Laboratory for Experimental Surgery at Universitair
Ziekenhuis Brussel, in Brussels, Belgium, and colleagues in the Annals of
Internal Medicine.
Researchers say many studies have highlighted an immediate increased risk of
death after hip fracture, but until now it wasn't clear whether this extra risk
persisted over the long term.
Men Suffer More After Hip Fracture?
In their report, researchers analyzed 22 studies including 578,436 women
with hip fractures and 17 studies that involved 154,276 men with hip fractures.
All study participants were 50 years old or older.
The results showed the average risk of death from any cause in the first
three months after hip fracture was 5.75 times higher in women and eight times
higher in men than with other adults in their age group.
These risks decreased dramatically two years after hip fracture but did not
return to rates seen among a comparison group of older adults without hip
fractures.
Researchers found the additional risks associated with hip fracture
increased with age and were generally higher among men than women.
For example, researchers estimate that a white woman who has a hip fracture
at age 80 has an 8%, 18%, and 22% higher risk of death 1, 5, and 10 years after
her injury, respectively, than another white woman of the same age without a
hip fracture.
For a white man, the additional risk of death associated with a hip fracture
at age 80 was 18%, 26% and 20% higher 1, 5, and 10 years after the injury.
Researchers say the reasons behind this additional long-term risk associated
with hip fracture merit further study. Some studies suggest men might be at
greater risk for postoperative complications after hip surgery, such as
infection, and others suggest men with hip fractures may already have other
health problems at the time of hip fracture.
http://www .webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20100315/hip-fracture-risks-linger-after-recovery?src=RSS_PUBLIC