Wrist fracture may indicate susceptibility to serious fractures in postmenopausal women

Wrist fracture could be a predictor of other more serious fractures in women under 65 years who have been through menopause, says research in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Over 160,000 women aged 50–79 years answered annual questionnaires detailing the fractures they had over the course of more than a decade.

The research group found that one in five women who had fractured a wrist went on to have a non-wrist fracture during the next 10 years. Looking at the data in detail they found that having a wrist fracture was associated with:
• 50% higher risk of subsequent spine fractures;
• 80% higher risk for upper arm fractures;
• 90% higher risk of a lower arm non-wrist fracture;
• 40% higher risk of leg fractures;
• 50% percent higher risk of hip fractures.

“Our results emphasize that wrist fractures do identify a group of women at particular risk for future fracture,” says Prof Carolyn Crandall, lead author. “The information highlights the great importance of working to develop strategies to prevent future fractures after an initial wrist fracture occurs.”

Bone mineral density, physical activity, smoking and alcohol use, calcium and vitamin D intake, falls and all other known fracture risk factors were all taken into account.

The findings indicate a “substantial missed opportunity” to devise interventions to prevent subsequent fractures in women who experienced a wrist fracture. Women who suffer such fractures should have bone mineral density testing.

Click here to read the original research.

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Image credit: AnnaKika