Men and women age 60 and older who fracture their hip may be at an increased risk of death not only shortly after the fracture, but also a number of years later.
Researchers examined eight studies that included 122,808 participants in the Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and United States (CHANCES) project. The project coordinated by the Hellenic Health Foundation to investigate the effects of aging on health.
According to the analysis, the risk of death was highest in the first year after the hip fracture. In addition, patients had a nearly twofold risk of dying 8 years or more after the injury, notes a media release from Wiley.
“It is important to implement appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of hip fractures while more attention should be given to those older individuals that have already experienced a hip fracture in order to ensure better quality of life and survival in the elderly,” says co-lead author Michail Katsoulis, in the release.
The study was published recently in Journal of Internal Medicine.
[Source(s): Wiley, Science Daily]
