|
Early menopause no predictor of hip fracture: study
Reported November 10, 2009
Women who have an early menopause are unlikely to have a long term increased
risk of hip fractures associated with menopausal bone density weakening,
according to a new study from The Australian National University.
For decades medical practitioners have understood a link between menopause
and a decrease in bone density. This has translated into clinicians advising
women who had an early menopause that they are at particularly high risk of
hip fracture – a common complaint amongst the elderly.
The study, led by Associate Professor Emily Banks of the National Centre for
Epidemiology and Population Health at ANU, has found that age is the main
determinant of hip fracture and that among the elderly their age at
menopause has little, if any, effect on hip fracture risk. Hence, doctors
should base their advice on the age of patients alone.
The researchers used data from the UK’s Million Women Study to reach their
findings. The Million Women Study recruited 1.3 million women aged 50-64
years who attended breast cancer screening clinics between 1996 and 2001 to
investigate how reproductive and lifestyle factors affect women’s health.
"The findings show that among post-menopausal women, age is the major
determinant of hip fracture risk and that for women of a given age, their
age at menopause has little effect on hip fracture risk," said Dr Banks.
"The results suggest that clinicians advising women about hip fracture
prevention should probably base their advice on the woman’s age and on
age-related factors such as frailty, rather than on factors related to
menopause. Clinicians can also now reassure elderly women who had early
menopause that their risk of hip fracture is unlikely to be higher than that
of similar women who had a later menopause," she said.
Hip fractures are a serious problem for elderly people, especially women. As
people age, their bones gradually lose minerals and become less dense, which
makes them more susceptible to fracture. Because women lose bone density
faster than men as they age and because women constitute the majority of the
elderly, three-quarters of hip fractures occur in women.
"Although surgical repair of a broken hip only requires a hospital stay of
about a week, a quarter of elderly people who were living independently
before their fracture have to stay in a nursing home for at least a year
after their injury, and a fifth of elderly people who break a hip die within
a year," said Dr Banks.
The study has been published in Public Library of Science Medicine.
Source: The Australian National University (ANU) |
