Effects of alcohol-related disease on hip fracture and mortality: A retrospective cohort study of hospitalized medicare beneficiaries

Objectives. This study investigated the effect of alcohol related disease o n hip fracture and mortality Methods. A retrospective cohort design was used. The study cohort consisted of hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries with alcohol related disease (n = 1 9) and randomly matched controls without alcohol-related disease (n = 72621 8) identified through the 1988-1989 inpatient claims file. Incidence of hip fracture and mortality were Results. During the study period, 20620 patients developed hip fracture, wi th 6973 cases among patients with alcohol-related disease and 13 647 cases among patients without alcohol-related Wi After adjustment for potential co nfounders, patients with alcohol-related disease had a 2.6-fold increased r isk of hip fracture relative to patients without disease (95% confidence in terval = 2.5, 2.6). Patients with alcohol-related disease had a higher risk of mortality at 1-year after hip fracture. Conclusion. Alcohol-related disease increases the risk of hip fracture sign ificantly and reduces long-term survival. The present results suggest that patients hospitalized for alcohol-related disease should be targeted for hi p fracture prevention programs.