Bone density decreases with age, increasing the risk of fragility fractures—low-energy trauma caused by a fall from standing height or less. The WHO reports that prevalent acute or long-term symptoms following a fracture increased by 70% from 1990 to 2019.
“The sequelae of hip fractures are as serious as those of a heart attack,” says orthopaedic trauma surgeon Christian A. Pean, MD, MS, clinical director of the Duke Fragility Fracture Clinic. “The outcomes are just as poor: 20% to 30% of patients over the age of 70 with a hip fracture pass away within a year, and the majority of surviving patients will lose one level of mobility, such as needing an assistive device for the first time.
“For those who’ve already had one fragility fracture, 7% to 20% have another within two years — and the second causes higher mortality, longer hospitalizations, and lower quality of life.”