Weight loss of 10% or more raises hip fracture risk in middle-aged and older people
Losing weight substantially increases risk of hip fracture, says data published in Osteoporosis International, but gaining weight gain does not reduce risk significantly.
We already know that a low body mass index makes hip fracture more likely. But the new findings show that in middle-aged to elderly people, weight loss of 10% or more was associated with a 56% higher hip fracture risk.
The study is based on large numbers of people (63,257 men and women aged 45–74 years at the start of the study). The researchers conducted a follow-up interview among 52,322 surviving people (five to nine years later) and recorded a total of 775 hip fractures. Results showed:
• The average age at hip fracture was 75.3 years.
• Those with weight loss of 10% or more had a 56% increase in hip fracture risk (men and women were both affected).
• After accounting for health conditions, people with weight loss of 10% or greater still had a 39% increase in hip fracture risk.
• People already very lean at the start of the study did not have such a high increase in risk.
• But people overweight at the start of the study who then lost 10% or more in weight had the greatest increase in risk.
• Weight gain was not associated with hip fracture risk.
“The results of this study suggest that doctors should be alert to the need to identify and manage the risk in patients who have experienced substantial weight loss,” says lead author, Dr Zhaoli Dai. “Hip fractures are a major cause of disability and premature death in seniors, and it is therefore important that preventive action be taken in patients who are at high risk.”
Image credit: Andy Melton
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