Fracture of the distal forearm as a forecaster of subsequent hip fracture: a population-based cohort study with 24 years of follow-up

Abstract

Objective: To determine the long-term risk of hip fracture following fracture of the distal forearm.

Design: Registry-based cohort study comparing patients with a fracture of the distal forearm with a population-based cohort. FRACTURE COHORT: All women and men above 40 years of age with a radiologically verified fracture of the distal forearm during a 5-year period, 1968-1972, in all 1,126 women and 212 men. CONTROL COHORT: An equal number of population-based, age- and sex-matched control persons selected from a population register.

Measurements: All cohort members were followed up individually through record linkage until the first hip fracture, emigration, death, or the end of 1991. The cohort members contributed a total of 40,832 person-years of observation, and altogether 365 cases of hip fractures were observed.

Results: Both women and men with a fracture of the distal forearm ran an increased risk of sustaining a subsequent hip fracture. The overall relative hazard for the women was 1.54 and for men 2.27. The increased risk in the women was independent of age at inclusion, but that in the men was more pronounced in the younger age groups.

Conclusions: Patients with a fracture of the distal forearm run an increased risk of sustaining a subsequent hip fracture. They therefore appear to constitute a group in which appropriate prophylactic measures against osteoporosis and fractures should be considered.