Men at increased risk of death after osteoporosis-related fractures

March 14 (UPI) -- Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have found men are at an increased risk of death following an osteoporosis-related bone fracture.

Osteoporosis is a condition that causes bone weakness and loss, usually from diminished estrogen in menopausal women.

"Although women are more likely to sustain an initial, osteoporosis-related 'fragility fracture,' men have similar rates of incurring a subsequent fracture and are at greater risk of mortality after these injuries," Dr. Alan Zhang, an orthopaedic surgeon and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a press release.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the Medicare Standard Analytic Files database of more than 1.6 million patients age 65 and older who were diagnosed with osteoporosis and had a fragility fracture between 2005 and 2009.

Approximately 87 percent of the study participants were women and 13 percent were men, and all had been diagnosed with facility fractures during the study period.

Researchers found women were at a five times higher risk for an initial fragility fracture compared to men. The risk for subsequent fragility fracture within three years of the first fracture was lower for women than men.

Men had a higher one-year mortality rate for nearly all types of fractures at 18.7 percent than women with 13.9 percent. The study showed men who needed surgery after an initial fracture were at an increased risk of subsequent fragility fracture within three years.

"The key findings from this study show that patient sex can affect the risk for sustaining a fragility fracture related to osteoporosis," Zhang said. "These findings may be used to better counsel patients after an initial fragility fracture and to improve predictive tools for monitoring subsequent injuries."

The research was presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.