Hip fracture rates are falling among older people but hospital admissions are rising despite the apparent success of prevention programs due to Australia’s aging population, says research in the Medical Journal of Australia.
The study tracks a decade of hip fracture data among people aged 50 and over who were admitted to acute hospitals in NSW between July 1990 and June 2000. In the decade to June 2000, hip fracture admissions rose 41.9 per cent among men and 31.2 per cent among women. Similar increases have been observed worldwide with global numbers - estimated to be 1.3 million in 1990 - expected to rise to between 7.3 million and 21.3 million by 2050. In Australia hip fracture numbers are expected to double over 29 years and quadruple in 56 years.
Study co-author, UNSW Professor Caroline Finch, said the global increase in hip fractures is being driven by an ageing population profile in western countries together with less active lifestyles, reduced bone and muscle strength, more frequent medication use and inadequate levels of calcium and vitamin D.
“Increasing hip fracture admissions will put increasing financial pressure on NSW acute hospitals because they account for nearly one per cent of health service expenditure,” said Prof Finch, who heads the UNSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre. “We found that average length of stay for hip fracture admissions in NSW fell from 19 days to 14 days but this was accompanied by a six per cent rise in patients being transferred to institutions such as nursing homes and rehabilitation centres. In the long term, this is an unsustainable strategy because hip fracture admissions will continue to rise in line with an ageing population.”
Other key findings: