PREDICTORS OF HIP-FRACTURES IN ELDERLY MEN

To assess the influence on the risk of hip fractures in men of medical conditions associated,with secondary osteoporosis or with an increase d likelihood of falling, we conducted a population-based nested case-c ontrol study among the 232 Rochester, Minnesota, men with an initial h ip fracture due to moderate trauma in 1965-1989 and an equal number of age-matched control men from the general population, Information on s elected medical and surgical conditions and certain behavioral risk fa ctors prior to fracture (or comparable index date for controls) was ob tained from inpatient and outpatient medical records in the community that averaged over 36 years in duration. After adjusting for age, obes ity, and inactivity, disorders linked with secondary osteoporosis were associated with a 2-fold increase in the risk of hip fracture in men (odds ratio [OR] 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-4.3), while con ditions linked with an increased risk of falling were associated with almost a 7-fold increase in risk (OR 6.9; 95% CI 3.3-14.8). These fact ors together appeared to account for about 72% of the hip fractures in men, Increased attention must be paid to these conditions which, in a ggregate, are very common in elderly men and lead to a substantial inc rease in the risk of hip fracture with its devastating sequelae of dea th, disability, and cost.