Association Between Osteoporosis and Refracture Rate Among Patients With Hip Fractures at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Saudi Arabia.

Background Hip fracture is a major medical and surgical topic and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Older women, especially those with osteoporosis, are at an increased risk for hip fractures. Multiple studies have shown the effect of osteoporosis on the refracture rate among the elderly population. Therefore, selecting a targeted population for screening and treating osteoporosis has an essential role in decreasing the hip fracture rate. This study aimed to determine the association between osteoporosis treatment and refracture rate among patients with hip fractures at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods Collected data included patient demographics (men: ≥55 years old; women: ≥50 years old), the used osteoporosis investigation method, osteoporosis treatment history, presence of comorbidities, and refracture as a primary outcome. The refracture rate among patients with hip fracture was calculated and used to determine the association between hip refracture and osteoporosis. Results Our study included a total of 292 patients who presented to our hospital due to hip fractures. The patients were divided into two groups, the osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic groups. These groups were then compared. There was no statistical significance between osteoporosis and hip refracture (p = 0.721), and there was no association between the treatment of osteoporosis and hip refracture (p = 0.493). Statistical difference was found between patients who had undergone dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan and were not treated for osteoporosis (p = 0.00). Lastly, the mortality of the refracture group was 10%, while it was 11% in the no-refracture group (p = 1.00). Conclusion Morbidity and mortality rates are higher among patients with hip fractures. Our study showed that there was no association between hip refracture rate and osteoporosis whether the patient is treated for osteoporosis or not. We recommend a systematic review that can include more studies in this field to acquire more definitive results regarding this topic.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright © 2022, AlYami et al.)