A hip fracture is more deadly than cancer.
This statement may seem dubious, but it's backed up by a new Canadian study.
Less than a third of men over 65 and less than half of women over 65 are alive five years after a bone fracture, according to a study published in the medical journal JBMR Plus.
By comparison, the five-year survival rate for older adults is 85 percent for men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 80 percent for women with breast cancer, and 56 percent for colon cancer.
The study, led by Dr. Jacques Brown of the CHU de Québec Research Centre, looked at the records of 98,474 Ontarians aged 66 and older who suffered a fracture between 2011 and 2015. Their median age was 80 years, and three out of four were women. .
People break all kinds of bones, including the wrist, arm, and spine, but hip fractures are the most common and also the most deadly. The researchers noted that although women have a much higher survival rate than men after a femoral neck fracture, they are much more likely to suffer a fracture in the first place.
To say that hip fractures are more deadly than cancer is a crude and simplistic comparison. However, this serves to draw our attention to the many problems associated with aging, and how we don't necessarily take certain health issues seriously.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 34,145 people aged 65 and older were hospitalized for treatment of femoral neck fractures in 2022-2023.
This is a huge number and a hugely costly health problem. According to a Canadian study, follow-up care for a hip fracture costs an average of $63,649.
A surgeon can use screws, nails, rods, or plates to put the broken bone back into place; replace the damaged hip with an artificial hip; or perform a total hip replacement.
Hip fractures tend to result in long hospital stays, on average 1 to 4 weeks, and are costly because they often cause a cascade of other problems as already frail patients become unwell and suffer from further illnesses such as delirium. It takes. Physical therapy is also essential.
Still, 40 percent of older adults who fracture a hip will never walk independently again. A walker, scooter, or wheelchair is required.
A new study points out that the first month after a hip fracture has the highest mortality rate, with most deaths occurring within the first year after the fracture.
In fact, for many people, a hip fracture is the beginning of the end.
Less than half of people hospitalized with femoral neck fractures return home. 44% returned to the community, 27% to a rehabilitation facility, 17% to long-term treatment, and 10% to another hospital.
Elderly people who fall and break bones such as their hips usually have a variety of illnesses, including osteoporosis, which causes bones to become brittle. One in three women and one in five men will experience an osteoporotic fracture during their lifetime.
Older adults often fall due to other medical conditions such as dementia or heart disease, drug interactions, or an unsafe physical environment.
In the new Quebec paper, Dr. Brown says one of the main takeaways from this data is the need for better fracture prevention, which primarily means fall prevention.
Parents of young children make their homes a safe place for their children to protect them from danger. Similarly, we need to make our homes safe for seniors to protect our frail seniors. The same is true in hospitals, where falls and fractures are far too common.
Handrails, railings, non-slip floors, improved lighting, removing obstacles and hazards such as rugs, and ensuring that people wear safe (non-slip) footwear are all fundamental to preventing fatal falls. This is a method.
There are programs where nurses and occupational therapists visit homes and offer advice on how to make them safer, but this type of investment in prevention is not common enough. The same goes for promoting physical activity in older adults. A little exercise can make a big difference in keeping people more stable and strong on their feet.
In an Australian study, researchers followed a large group of older adults with osteoporosis over several decades and found that small increases in bone density (3%) were associated with dramatic increases in hip fractures (45%). It was found that this led to a decrease in
We invest heavily in cancer prevention and care, and rightly so. But new data reminds us that we need to be equally concerned about and proactively prevent both falls and bone fragility.
