Identification and treatment of osteoporosis among elderly patients with hip fractures

To evaluate the profile of osteoporosis treatment among patients hospitalized due to hip fractures at a tertiary-level university hospital. To compare the impact of hospitalization on approaches toward treating bone mass losses.

The medical records of 123 hip fracture patients aged 60 years and over at the Institute of Orthopedics, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, between 2004 and 2006 were reviewed and analyzed with respect to approaches towards investigating osteoporosis and treatments before and after fracture.

The patients' mean age was 78 +/- 8.3 years, and the majority were women (71.54%). The patients had a mean of 2.72 comorbidities and used 3.26 medications on average. Among these patients, 12.3% reported a previous diagnosis of osteoporosis, and 5.83% were on medication for this. The mean waiting time for surgery was 6.3 +/- 7.54 days, and seven patients (5.7%) died during the hospitalization. There were no investigations using bone densitometry, no changes in osteoporosis therapy between admission and discharge (p = 0.375), and no reports of referrals for the patient to have access to treatment.

Investigations and treatments of osteoporosis and strategies for preventing new fractures were not implemented during the hospitalization of these elderly patients with hip fractures, even though this is the most feared complication of osteoporosis. These data need to be disseminated so that professionals dealing with elderly patients are attentive to the need for primary and secondary prevention of osteoporosis because of the impact of fractures on these patients' quality of life, independence, morbidities, and mortality.