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Fracture Burden: What Two and a Half Decades of Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study Data Reveal About Clinical Outcomes of Osteoporosis

  • Skeletal Biology and Regulation (M Forwood and A Robling, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Osteoporosis Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of the Review

This review aims to highlight important clinical findings from the over 25 year-long Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study particularly focusing on outcomes post fracture.

Recent Findings

Every low trauma fracture in the elderly is associated with an increased risk of a subsequent fracture, with a higher risk in men than women. All major or proximal fractures and even minor fractures in the very elderly or minor fractures that are then followed by re-fracture are associated with premature mortality, greatest in the first 5 years post fracture. Having a subsequent fracture further increases this high mortality risk, but if an individual survives the high risk period, their risk returns to that of the background population. Non-hip non-vertebral fractures account for a significant proportion of the premature mortality. Despite an improvement in overall health and population mortality over the years, excess mortality post fracture has not changed in the last 2 decades.

Summary

All low trauma, fractures in the elderly herald a high risk of poor outcomes, particularly in the first few years post fracture. Early intervention should be initiated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone Biology Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, St Vincent’s Hospital Clinical School, School of Medicine, University of New South Wales, 384 Victoria St, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Jacqueline R. Center

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  1. Jacqueline R. Center
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Correspondence to Jacqueline R. Center.

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Conflict of Interest

Jacqueline Center reports grants from National Health and Medical Research Council, other from Ernst Heine Foundation, Osteoporosis-Amgen grant, grants from BUPA Health Foundation, untied grants from Amgen, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, and Servier during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Amgen, non-financial support from Merck Sharp and Dohme, personal fees from Allergan Australia, outside the submitted work.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Skeletal Biology and Regulation

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Center, J.R. Fracture Burden: What Two and a Half Decades of Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study Data Reveal About Clinical Outcomes of Osteoporosis. Curr Osteoporos Rep 15, 88–95 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-017-0352-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-017-0352-5

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