A selection strategy was developed for fracture reduction programs in frail older people.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to develop and evaluate a simple index for assessing the risk of fractures after a fall and to propose a selection strategy for identifying elderly individuals at high risk of both falls and fall-related fractures.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

Two thousand five institutionalized older men and women were assessed for clinical risk factors and then followed up for falls and fall-related fractures for up to 2 years.

RESULTS

Our fracture risk index is derived from seven previously identified significant independent risk factors: weight, lower leg length, balance, cognitive function, type of institution, fracture history, and falls in the past year. The fracture rate was 6.5 times greater in the one-sixth of the falls with the highest index (9.7/100 falls) than in the lowest sixth (1.5/100 falls). Our proposed approach (based on balance, risk of falls, and the fracture risk index) selected a group of older people with high risk of both falls and fall-related fracture. The fracture incidence rate was 144% higher, and the falls incidence rate was 31% higher in the selected residents than in the remainder.

CONCLUSION

The index could help rationalize fracture prevention programs for frail older people.