Small Steps Big Gains: How to Dramatically Reduce Your Risk of Hip Fracture

By: Doug Garfield | Posted on: 09-05-2023 | Category: Hearing Loss

A new Australian study suggests that implementing simple strategies to strengthen bones could lead to a significant decrease in hip fractures.

Bone health is affected by lifestyle factors such as

Smoking
Physical activity
Nutrition

Bone health is affected by lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity and nutrition, including vitamin D and dietary calcium intake. Stopping smoking, maintaining moderate physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can all help reduce bone loss. —Distinguished Professor Tuan Nguyen, University of Technology Sydney

Most hip fractures occur in people without osteoporosis, so it is essential for everyone, especially older adults, to take action to improve their bone health.

Why it matters

A hip fracture, especially in older adults (60+), dramatically increases the risk of death.

One out of three adults dies within one year of fracturing a hip — 37 percent of men and 20 percent of women.
Death from hip fracture is caused by post-surgical complications such as stroke, infection, heart disease, and pneumonia.

However, the majority of hip fractures occur in people who do not have osteoporosis, so it is important for everyone, especially the elderly, to take action to improve their bone health. Bone mineral density is modifiable, and even small improvements reduce the risk of a fracture. —Dr. Tuan Nguyen

Small changes, big benefits

While losing bone density is unavoidable with aging, the new study established that small improvements in skeletal health can considerably reduce hip fractures. Even if these small steps feel insignificant, they're not, as the study results confirm.

One key to hip fracture reduction is reducing the risk of people with low to moderate risk, not focusing entirely on high-risk people.

The graphic below illustrates this point. Men with normal and low bone mineral density (89% of the population) have a lower risk of hip fracture than those with osteoporosis (11%). However, they account for 75% of all hip fractures in the general population.

Some people who are following medication regimens or engaging in lifestyle modification programs and notice a slight change in bone mineral density might believe that these measures hold little benefit for them. Nonetheless, even these minor effects can lead to a substantial reduction in fracture risk for the community. —Dr. Tuan Nguyen

Closer look

The researchers analyzed data from the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study, one of the longest-running studies on osteoporosis.

Over 3,000 women and men over 60 were tracked for their incidence of hip fracture and risk factors.
Researchers recruited two waves of participants: the first wave (1,311 women, 842 men) in 1989-1992, and the second wave (974 women, 544 men) in 1999-2001.
They found that bone mineral density increased by 3 percent between the 1988-1992 and 1999-2001 cohorts.
During this period, hip fractures decreased by 45 percent indicating a 10 percent increase in bone mineral density.

Hearing loss, the other hip-fracture risk

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University discovered that hearing loss is a risk factor for a large (and growing) public health problem: falls. For the record, every 19 seconds, someone in the US falls and breaks a hip (95% of hip fractures are caused by falls).

Hearing loss dramatically increases the risk of falling.
A 25-decibel hearing loss (mild hearing loss) triples the risk of falling.
Every additional 10 decibels of hearing loss increases the risk 1.4 times.

The takeaway

To reduce bone loss, take Dr. Nguyen's advice: stop smoking, exercise moderately, and eat a healthy diet.
Untreated hearing loss increases your risk of falling, so schedule a hearing screening to determine if your hearing loss needs treatment.