Past Falls may Help Predict the Risk of Bone Fracture

Past falls are a risk factor for bone fracture, independently of Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) calculated with or without bone mineral density.

An individual’s risk of bone fracture can be predicted by their history of past falls, according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

The findings were made in the large Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) cohort, comprising 4,365 men in the United States, 1,823 in Sweden, and 1,669 in Hong Kong, with an average age ranging from 72.4 to 75.4 years, and average follow-up time from 8.7 to 10.8 years.

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Past falls were associated with a 63% to 71% increased risk of a new fracture independent of other factors like low bone mineral density.

Even after accounting for results from the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) and/or bone mineral density tests, past falls were associated with a 63%-71% increased risk of a new fracture occurring.

"Whilst the predictive value of falls for future fracture is well-established, these new findings--the result of a successful ongoing collaboration across UK, Sweden, Hong Kong, and the US--inform approaches to clinical fracture risk assessment, demonstrating that the fracture risk associated with prior falls is relevant over and above the risk identified by the current global standard approach of FRAX and bone mineral density," said lead author Prof. Nicholas Harvey, of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, UK.

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Source-Eurekalert

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