Hip fractures. Epidemiology, risk factors, falls, energy absorption, hip protectors, and prevention.

The present review summarizes the pathogenic mechanisms leading to hip fracture based on epidemiological, experimental, and controlled studies. The estimated lifetime risk of hip fracture is about 14% in postmenopausal women and 6% in men. The incidence of hip fractures increases exponentially with aging, but the time-trend in increasing age-specific incidence may not be a universal phenomenon. Postmenopausal women suffering earlier non-hip fractures have an increased risk of later hip fracture. The relative risk being highest within the first years following the fracture. Nursing home residents have a high risk of hip fracture (annual rate of 5-6%), and the incidence of falls is about 1,500 falls/1,000 persons/year. Most hip fractures are a result of a direct trauma against the hip. The incidence of falls on the hip among nursing home residents is about 290 falls/1,000 persons/year and about 24% of these impacts lead to hip fracture. The force acting on the hip may reach 3.7 kN in falls on the hip from standing height, which means that only susceptible subjects will sustain a hip fracture in such falls. The effective load acting on the hip is 35% of the body weight in unprotected falls on the hip. Women with hip fractures have a lower body weight compared with controls, and they may also have less soft tissue covering the hip even when adjusted for body mass index, indicating a more android body habitus. Experimental studies show that the passive energy absorption in soft tissue covering the hip may influence the risk of hip fracture, and being an important determinant for the development of hip fracture, maybe more important than bone strength. External hip protectors were developed and tested in an open randomised nursing home study. The rate of hip fractures was reduced by 50%, corresponding to 9 out of 247 residents saved from sustaining a hip fracture. The review points to the essentials of the development of hip fracture, which constitutes; risk of fall, type of fall, type of impact, energy absorption, and lastly bone strength, which is the ultimate and last permissive factor in the cascade leading to hip fracture. Risk estimation and prevention of hip fractures may prove realistic when these issues are taken into consideration.