Predicting hip fractures in elderly population

Investigators have examined whether various risk assessment tools may help predict hip fractures in elderly patients, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The investigators compared the performance of the Fracture Risk Assessment or FRAX tool, Garvan Fracture Risk calculator and femoral neck bone mineral density measure in predicting five-year hip fracture risk in 8,890 patients aged 80 years and older.

They discovered that a higher percentage of female patients experienced hip fractures compared with male patients. The FRAX tool modestly underestimated the risk of hip fractures in intermediate-risk patients, while the Garvan tool significantly overestimated the risk in high-risk patients. Neither tool improved hip fracture discrimination compared with the femoral neck bone mineral density measure — which provided comparable, if not greater, discrimination of hip fracture risk in this patient population.

Further studies in more diverse patient populations may be needed to validate this finding. Based on the results of the study, the investigators suggested that clinicians should consider hip bone mineral density, life expectancy and patient preferences when initiating treatments to prevent hip fractures in older adults.

Read more: JAMA Network Open

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