TOPLINE:
Women with low bone density are more likely to report their first fragility hip fracture in their 60s rather than at older ages.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers used hip fracture data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2009-2010, 2013-2014, and 2017-2018.
- They included women older than 60 years with a bone mineral density T score ≤ −1 at the femur neck, measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.
- Fragility fractures are defined as a self-reported hip fracture resulting from a fall from standing height or less.
TAKEAWAY:
- The number of women in their 60s who reported their first hip fracture grew by 50% from 2009 to 2018.
- The opposite was true for women in their 70s and 80s who reported fewer first hip fractures over the study period.
- Reported fragility hip fractures in women overall decreased by half from 2009 to 2018.
- The prevalence of women with osteoporosis (T score ≤ −2.5) grew from 18.1% to 21.3% over 10 years.
IN PRACTICE:
The decrease in fractures overall and in women older than 70 years “may be due to increasing awareness and utilization of measures to decrease falls such as exercise, nutrition, health education, and environmental modifications targeted toward the elderly population,” the authors wrote. The findings also underscore the importance of earlier bone health awareness in primary care to curb the rising trend in younger women, they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Avica Atri, MD, of Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. She presented the findings at ENDO 2024: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.
LIMITATIONS:
The study was retrospective in nature and included self-reported health data.
DISCLOSURES:
The study received no commercial funding. The authors have reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.