Live it Safe - Preventing Hip Fractures

1-800-824-BONES

In 1999, there were more than 320,000 hospitalizations for hip fractures.

The total cost in medical bills and lost income resulting from hip fractures is more than $12.6 billion a year or an average of $37,000 per hip fracture.

Because of the aging U.S. population, the number of hip fractures is expected to reach about 650,000 by 2050.

More than 90 percent of hospitalizations for hip fractures are persons 65 and older. Women have a 1 in 7 chance of having a hip fracture during their lifetime. Men have a 1 in 17 chance.

The aging Baby Boomer who may be caring for a parent with a broken hip also is in danger because the incidence of hip fractures starts to increase at age 45.

Hip fractures are caused by a variety of factors that weaken bone and, often, are caused by the impact from a fall. The common characteristics of persons who are vulnerable to hip fractures are:

• Age. The rate increases for people 65 and older.
• Gender. Women have two to three times as many hip fractures as men.
• Heredity. A family history of fractures in later life, particularly in Caucasians and Asians. A small-boned, slender body.
• Nutrition. A low calcium dietary intake or reduced ability to absorb calcium.
• Personal habits. Smoking or excessive alcohol use.
• Physical impairments. Physical frailty, arthritis, unsteady balance and poor eyesight.
• Mental impairments. Senility, dementia, e.g., Alzheimer's disease.
• Weakness or dizziness from side effects of medication.

Women (men) are 8 percent (18 percent) more likely to die within 1 year following a hip fracture than other women (men) their age.

Most hip fracture patients who previously lived independently will require assistance from their family or home care. About half will require canes or walkers for mobility when they return home. 53 percent of hip fracture patients 65 and older are discharged from hospitals to long-term care facilities. All hip fracture patients will require walking aids for several months after injury and nearly half will permanently require canes or walkers to move around their house or outdoors.

Home Safety Checklist

Most falls occur at home and most fractures result from a fall at home. Falls can lead to a tragic loss of older people's independence and mobility. Simple modifications to the interior of your house can cut by one-half your risk of falling. Where necessary, install safety devices.

Each year, more than 734,000 people over 65 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with stairs, bathtubs, furniture, carpeting and other products seniors live with and use every day.

Thousands of these injuries are related to falls: 3,000 seniors each year fall while standing on chairs; 6,800 seniors trip on rugs or carpet runners. Many of these accidents could be prevented. Changes in furniture arrangement, housekeeping and lighting will help reduce your risk of falling at home. Use this checklist as a guide. Stairs and steps

• Make sure light switches are at both the top and bottom of the stairs.
• Provide enough light to see each step and the top and bottom landings.
• Keep flashlights nearby in case of a power outage.
• Install handrails on both sides of the stairway and be sure to use them.
• Do not leave objects on the stairs.
• Consider installing motion detector lights which turn on automatically and light your stairway.
• Put nonslip treads on each bare-wood step.
• Do not use patterned, dark or deep-pile carpeting. Solid colors show the edges of steps more clearly.
• Do not place loose area rugs at the bottom or top of stairs.
• Repair loose stairway carpeting or boards immediately.

Bathroom

• Install grab bars on the bathroom walls near the toilet and along the bathtub or shower.
• Place a slip-resistant rug adjacent to the bathtub for safe exit and entry.
• Mount a liquid soap dispenser on the bathtub/shower wall.
• Place nonskid adhesive textured strips on the bathtub/shower floor.
• Use a sturdy, plastic seat in the bathtub if you are unsteady or if you cannot lower yourself to the floor of the tub.
• Stabilize yourself on the toilet by using either a raised seat or a special toilet seat with armrests.
• Replace glass shower enclosures with non-shattering material.

Bedroom

• Clear clutter from the floor.
• Place a lamp and flashlight near your bed.
• Install night-lights along the route between the bedroom and the bathroom.
• Sleep on a bed that is easy to get into and out of.
• Keep a telephone near your bed.

Living areas

• Arrange furniture to create clear pathways between rooms.
• Remove low coffee tables, magazine racks, footrests and plants from pathways in rooms.
• Install easy-access light switches at entrances to rooms so you won't have to walk into a darkened room in order to turn on the light. Glow-in-the-dark switches may be helpful.
• Secure loose area rugs with double-faced tape or slip-resistant backing. Recheck these rugs periodically.
• Keep electric, appliance and telephone cords out of your pathways, but don't put cords under a rug.
• Eliminate wobbly chairs, ladders and tables.
• Do not sit in a chair or on a sofa that is so low it is difficult to stand up.
• Place carpeting over concrete, ceramic and marble floors to lessen the severity of injury if you fall.
• Repair loose wooden floorboards immediately.

Kitchen

• Remove throw rugs.
• Immediately clean up any liquid, grease or food spilled on the floor.
• Store food, dishes and cooking equipment at easy-to-reach waist-high level.
• Don't stand on chairs or boxes to reach upper cabinets. Use only a step stool with an attached handrail so you are supported.
• Repair loose flooring.
• Use nonskid floorwax.