Clinical Predictors of Hip Fracture in Postmenopausal Women

Several clinical factors are associated with an increased risk for hip fracture, but their relative importance and the best way to assess them together are unknown. Investigators analyzed a mean of nearly 8 years of follow-up data from the Women’s Health Initiative for more than 90,000 subjects and 1132 hip fractures to develop a predictive algorithm based on common clinical factors. The algorithm was validated in a separate cohort of nearly 70,000 subjects (and 791 fractures) with similar follow-up.

Regression analysis revealed 11 readily available factors associated with increased fracture risk: increasing age, fair to poor self-reported health, relatively greater height, relatively lighter weight, any fracture after age 54, white race or …