Journal of Gerontology· 1989
A HYPOTHESIS: The Causes of Hip Fractures
- 386citations
- 1989year
Short summary
A new hypothesis proposes that hip fractures result from a combination of four specific conditions: fall orientation near the hip, failure of protective responses, insufficient soft tissue energy absorption, and impact energy exceeding bone strength, all of which become more likely with age.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Hip fracture risk increases exponentially with age due to multiple factors, not just osteoporosis or falls.
- Four conditions must be met for a fall to cause a hip fracture: fall orientation, failed protection, inadequate soft tissue absorption, and impact exceeding bone strength.
- Each of these four conditions becomes more probable with advancing age.
- Assessing both neuromuscular function and bone strength may be the best way to predict hip fracture risk.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Neither age-related osteoporosis nor the increasing incidence of falls with age sufficiently explain the exponential increase in the incidence of hip fracture with aging. We propose that four conditions must be satisfied in order for a fall to cause a hip fracture: (a) the faller must be oriented to impact near the hip; (b) protective responses must fail; (c) local soft tissues must absorb less energy than necessary to prevent fracture, and (d) the residual energy of the fall applied to the proximal femur must exceed its strength. All of these events become more likely with aging and lead to an exponential rise in the risk of hip fracture with advancing age. This model also suggests that a combination of measurements of neuromuscular function and of bone strength may be the most accurate approach to assessing the risk of hip fracture.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Gerontology, 1989 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and RehabilitationHealth Professions