Underlying health issues have a relation with poorer post-fracture outcomes in older adults

Having specific combinations of underlying health issues is a significant risk for poorer health outcomes in older adults who've had a fracture, a new study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research shows.

The study was conducted on more than 300,000 Danish people aged 50 or older who had sustained a fracture. In patients with fractures closer to the center of the body (for example, in the hip, spine, upper arm or leg), the researchers found a higher mortality rate than expected for the general population of the same age. If those people with fractures also had multiple or complex health conditions, the mortality risk was higher again.

The researchers found that certain clusters of conditions were associated with increased mortality rates, suggesting this information could be used by clinicians to highlight patients who may require more intensive medical care.

The researchers found chronic health conditions at the time of fracture were naturally clustered into five specific groups for men and four for women: a relatively healthier group with generally only one or no health conditions, a cardiovascular group, a diabetic group, and a cancer group with an additional liver/inflammatory group for men.

"This research highlights that there's an interaction between the fracture and a patient's cluster of health conditions - their underlying health - and that this could be a good way to identify at-risk people," says Dr Thach Tran.

Reference:

Dr Thach Tran at al,Association of multimorbidity and excess mortality after fractures among Danish adults,JAMA Network Open, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.35856