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Mental distress and risk of hip fracture. Do broken hearts lead to broken bones?

L Forsén1, H E Meyer, A J Søgaard

  • 1National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
|July 9, 1999
PubMed

Insights

Mental distress significantly increases hip fracture risk in women, independent of medication use. This highlights psychological well-being as a crucial factor in preventing bone fractures.

Area of Science:

  • Gerontology
  • Epidemiology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Mental distress is a potential risk factor for hip fracture.
  • The specific mechanisms, including medication use, are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between mental distress and hip fracture risk in women.
  • To adjust for medication use (tranquilizers, sedatives, hypnotics) in this analysis.

Main Methods:

  • A 3-year follow-up study of 18,612 women aged 50+ in Norway.
  • Mental distress assessed using a validated index; hip fractures recorded.
  • Cox regression analysis adjusted for age, medication, BMI, smoking, physical activity, and illness.

Main Results:

  • Women with highest mental distress had over double the hip fracture risk compared to those with lowest.
  • This association remained significant after adjusting for covariates (RR 1.95).
  • Medication use increased hip fracture risk, but this effect was partially explained by mental distress.

Conclusions:

  • Mental distress is an independent risk factor for hip fracture in women.
  • The impact of psychotropic medications on hip fracture risk may be overestimated without accounting for mental distress.
Abstract

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