New technique 'can predict hip fractures'

Older adults may be less likely to experience hip fractures in the future as a result of a new study by researchers in Sweden.

Experts at the Karolinska Institutet have developed a technique that can predict which individuals are more likely to be affected by a hip fracture.

It is thought 1.7 million hip fractures occur worldwide every year and the majority of these are in older adults and women with osteoporosis.

"If we can identify people with osteoporosis and treat them with drugs, we can reduce the risk of hip fracture," said principal investigator associate Professor Torkel Brismar of Karolinska Institutet's Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology.

Researchers showed they can predict patients who are more likely to experience a hip fractures by measuring bone density called digital X-ray radiogrammetry used on standard hand radiographs.

Some 17 per cent of hip replacements in the UK are now carried out by private firms, a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has claimed.

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