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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Method and Instrumented Fixture for Femoral Fracture Testing in a Sideways Fall-on-the-Hip Position
Published on: August 17, 2017
A prospective study of the effect of fracture on measured physical performance: results from the MacArthur Study--MAC
G A Greendale1, T A DeAmicis, A Bucur
1Division of Geriatrics, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Objective:
To examine the impact of fractures on measured physical performance and to assess whether specific fractures have unique sequelae.
Subjects:
762 men and women, aged 70 to 79 at baseline, who were part of the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging.
Design:
A longitudinal case-cohort: those with prevalent fractures at baseline were excluded; cases were persons with a medically diagnosed hip, arm, spine, or wrist fracture during the follow-up period (1988-1995).
Measures:
Eight physical performance tests: turning a circle, walking fast, chair stands, timed tap, tandem stand, grip strength, single leg stand, and balance (average of single leg and tandem stands) measured at baseline and follow-up.
Analysis:
Two fracture groups were defined: (1) those with incident wrist fractures (n = 7) and (2) those with a fracture of the hip, arm, or spine (combined fractures group, n = 16). Change in physical performance was analyzed using crude, age-adjusted, and multiply-adjusted ANCOVA models.
Results:
The combined fracture group demonstrated statistically significant (P < .05) declines seven of eight of the performance tests compared with individuals without fractures. In contrast, individuals with wrist fractures did not experience a statistically significant decline in any performance measure compared with the no fracture group.
Conclusions:
Relative to those without fractures, individuals with a hip, arm, or clinical spinal fracture show similar global declines in physical performance, whereas those with wrist fracture demonstrate no physical performance decrements.
