Fracture Risk Easily Determined With Comprehensive Assessment
A comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) effectively identified older patients at high-risk for hip fractures, according to a recent study.
The study included 509 patients with an acute hip fracture and 1315 community-dwelling older adults. Demographic, functional, cognitive, and nutritional information was collected for the CGA and data was compared between those with hip fractures and those without.
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Compared with community-dwelling older adults, those with hip fractures were more likely to be older, women, have disabilities, cognitive impairment, lower handgrip strength, lower body mass index (BMI), and a higher frequency of vitamin D deficiency.
After adjusting for age and female sex, disability (odds ratio [OR] 4.32), muscle weakness (OR3.01), vitamin D deficiency (OR 2.13), and a BMI below 22 kg/m2 (OR 5.11) were strongly associated with hip fractures.
“There are easily obtained CGA determinants that are strongly associated with fragility [hip fractures],” the researchers concluded. “The detection of low weight, disability, malnutrition, muscle weakness, and vitamin D deficiency can help identify at-risk older people to implement prevention strategies.”
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
Ramírez-Martín R, Alcalá MVC, Alarcón T, et al. Comprehensive geriatric assessment for identifying older people at risk of hip fracture: cross-sectional study with comparative group. Family Practice. 2017; 34(6): 679–684. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmx059.