Women with multiple risk factors and low bone density have an especially high risk of hip fracture. Maintaining body weight, walking for exercise, avoiding long-acting benzodiazepines, minimizing caffeine intake, and treating impaired visual function are among the steps that may decrease the risk.

Functional disability following hip fracture is significant, patterns of recovery differ by area of function, and there appears to be an orderly sequence by which areas of function reach their maximal levels.

Objectives To examine the association between strength, function, lean mass, muscle density and risk of hospitalization. Design Prospective cohort stud Setting Two U.S. clinical centers Participants Adults aged 70 – 80 years (N=3,011) from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. Measurements Measures included grip strength; knee extension strength; lean mass; walking speed; chair stand pace. Thigh computed tomography scans assessed muscle area and density (a proxy for muscle fat infiltration). Hospitalizations were confirmed by local review of medical records. Negative binomial regression models estimated incident rate ratios (IRRs) of hospitalization for race/sex specific quartiles of each muscle/function parameter separately. Multivariate models adjusted for age, body mass index, health status and coexisting medical conditions. Results During an average 4.7 years of follow-up, 1,678 (55.7%) participants experienced ≥1 hospitalization. Participants in the lowest quartile of muscle density were more likely to be subsequently hospitalized (multivariate IRR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.24, 1.73) compared to the highest quartile. Similarly, participants with the weakest grip strength were at increased risk of hospitalization (MIRR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.30, 1.78, Q1 vs. Q4). Comparable results were seen for knee strength, walking pace and chair stands pace. Lean mass and muscle area were not associated with risk of hospitalization. Conclusion Weak strength, poor function and low muscle density, but not muscle size or lean mass, were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization. Interventions to reduce the disease burden associated with sarcopenia should focus on increasing muscle strength and improving physical function rather than simply increasing lean mass.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the excess mortality attributable to hip fracture. METHODS: The 6-year survival rate of community-dwelling White female hip fracture patients aged 70 years and older entering one of seven hospitals from 1984 to 1986 (n = 578) was compared with that of White female respondents aged 70 years and older interviewed in 1984 for the Longitudinal Study on Aging (n = 3773). RESULTS: After age, education, comorbidity, and functional impairment were controlled, the mortality differential between the two groups accumulated to an excess among hip fracture patients of 9 deaths per 100 women 5 years postfracture. Among those with three or more functional impairments or one or more comorbidities, the excess was 7 deaths per 100: the effect of the fracture had disappeared in these groups by 4 years. In contrast, those with two or fewer impairments and those with no comorbidities had a continuing trend of increased mortality, with an excess of 14 deaths per 100 by 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: There is an immediate increase in mortality following a hip fracture in medically ill and functionally impaired patients, whereas among those with no comorbidities and few impairments, there is a gradual increase in mortality that continues for 5 years postfracture.

Proxy ratings of functional status were compared with subject self-reports in five domains relevant to the study of older persons and with observations of subject performance in two areas (physical and instrumental functioning). Data were derived from 233 proxy-subject pairs evaluated in a prospective study of hip fracture patients aged 65 years or more in Baltimore, Maryland (1990-1991). Agreement between proxy and subject reports was highest for a summary measure of instrumental functioning and lowest for a measure of depression. Proxies tended to report more disability than did subjects, although bias varied by function. Patterns of agreement for proxy reports versus observations of performance compared with patterns for proxy reports versus subject reports were lower for measures of instrumental functioning, and bias was generally more extreme for instrumental and physical functioning measures. The authors conclude that agreement and bias differ by functional domain, by the way summary measures are created and scored, and by the criterion against which proxy reports are compared.

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Few studies of bone loss have assessed the amount of loss directly after a hip fracture. The present prospective study was conducted to determine changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and muscle mass shortly after fracture and through 1 year to assess short-term loss and related factors. The setting was two acute care teaching hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, and subjects were 205 community-dwelling women with a new fracture of the proximal femur between 1992 and 1995. Bone density of the nonfractured hip and whole-body and body composition were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 3 and 10 days and 2, 6 and 12 months after admission. Mean BMD of the femoral neck was 0.546 +/- 0.007 g/cm(2) at baseline. Average loss of femoral neck BMD from baseline was 2.1% at 2 months, 2.5% at 6 months and 4.6% at 12 months. The average loss of BMD in the intertrochanteric region was 2.1% at 12 months. Total lean body mass decreased by 6% while fat mass increased by 3. 6% by 1 year after the fracture. These findings indicate that significant loss in BMD and lean body mass occur shortly after hip fracture while body fat increases. Continued loss was evident throughout the 1 year of follow-up. This loss of both bone density and muscle mass may lead to new fractures.

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