By Shirley Pulawski
SAN FRANCISCO — Although research presented here at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting showed proximal fractures were associated with premature mortality of older men and women, distal fractures were not associated with this outcome.
“Health professionals have been aware for some time that having a hip fracture when you are older increases your risk of dying in 1 [year] to 2 years after the fracture, but we have not been so aware that other fractures could increase this risk as well,” Lyn March, MD, PhD, professor of rheumatology and musculoskeletal epidemiology at the Kolling Institute of Bone and Joint Research at the University of Sydney Liggins and Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, said. 