Hospitalization may decrease physical function and cause bone loss. In the most recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco reported that elderly patients who are admitted to the hospital often have increased risks for hip fractures, as well as other types of fractures.

The researchers recruited 3075 men and women aged 70 to 79 years and studied the number of fractures and hospitalizations in this group of people for an average follow-up period of almost 7 years. During follow-up, 2030 (66%) of the participants were admitted to a hospital and 809 (26%) were admitted 3 or more times. Fractures occurred in 285 of the study participants, including 74 hip fractures. The researchers found that, after statistical adjustments for age, race, and gender, hospitalization was associated with twice the risk of fractures of any type. Hip fracture risk was more than double among study participants who had been hospitalized.

As seen in this study, hospitalizations are very common among the elderly. Although it is not known exactly why hospitalization increases fracture risk, the researchers suggest that hospitalization is an unrecognized opportunity to evaluate and reduce the risk of fractures in a large number of elderly men and women.