ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Nearly 340,000 hip fractures occur in the United States every year. Padded hip protectors have become a popular preventive measure, but new research reveals they just don't work.

The padded devices are worn under clothing like underwear and are designed to absorb energy in the event of a fall. But a study of more than 1,000 nursing home residents reveals the hip protectors did not reduce the incidence of fracture. In fact, they may have increased it.

Hip protectors range in price from $2 to $150 online. However, doctors say there is little to no difference in the products themselves. The padding is usually made of ethylene vinyl acetate foam covered by an outer polyethylene layer.

"Many of them have never been tested," study author Douglas Kiel, M.D., Ph.D., director of medical research at Hebrew SeniorLife and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told Ivanhoe. "They make all kinds of claims on the internet or in advertising material that they are great ways to prevent fractures, but very few of them have been put to the scientific test of a clinical trial. There are no regulations, no FDA approval, no one is overseeing it."

Approximately one-third of adults older than 65 fall each year. That rate rises to 50-percent in a nursing home setting. Researchers tested the devices in 37 nursing homes across the country for 20 months, when the trial was terminated early. Researchers say the results showed overwhelming evidence the devices were not effective, requiring no need to conduct the study further.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Douglas Kiel, M.D., Ph.D.; The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298, 413-422