Underlying health issues have a relation with poorer post-fracture outcomes in older adults - Video
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Overview
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
Speakers
Isra Zaman
B.Sc Life Sciences, M.Sc Biotechnology, B.Ed
Isra Zaman is a Life Science graduate from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University, and a postgraduate in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a flair for writing, and her roles at Medicaldialogues include that of a Sr. content writer and a medical correspondent. Her news pieces cover recent discoveries and updates from the health and medicine sector. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751