The Prevalence of Osteoporosis in Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

This study describes the prevalence of osteoporosis in a statewide sample of nursing home residents. Composite forearm bone mineral density (BMD) (including the distal radius and the distal ulna) of 1475 residents aged 65 years and older from 34 randomly selected, stratified nursing homes was assessed. BMD was expressed with reference to World Health Organization diagnostic criteria. Trends with age, gender and race were consistent with other populations. However, prevalence estimates were higher than community-based age-specific rates. The prevalence of osteoporosis for white female residents increased from 63.5% for women aged 65-74 years to 85.8% for women over 85 years of age. Only 3% had composite forearm BMD within 1 standard deviation of the young adult mean. The significance of the high prevalence of low BMD in nursing home residents is the increased fracture risk it may confer. In community cohorts of white women, the risk of hip fracture increases approximately 50% for every 1 standard deviation decrease in bone mass. However, the degree to which BMD contributes to fracture risk in this population has not been well established.

Hip protectors decrease hip fracture risk in elderly nursing home residents: a Bayesian meta-analysis

“…Furthermore, application of hip protectors in nursing homes by staff may be considered an important cointervention, not available in other group residence settings; this issue could be another contributor to clinical heterogeneity of pooled analyses of mixed populations. The nursing home population was of greatest clinical interest, as this population is known to be at extremely high risk for osteoporosis [14][15][16], falls [17], cognitive impairment (leading to falls and hip fracture) [16], and hip fracture [18][19][20].…”

The aging process and function of endocrine glands

“…According to European studies, 1/3 of women at the age of 60 and 2/3 at the age of 80 suffer from osteoporosis. It has been shown that in people at the age of around 85 residing in old age and nursing homes, the osteoporosis incidence rate ranges from 85.8% to 95% [66,67]. The deficiency of vitamin D active metabolites also contributes to the development of central nervous system diseases, including Parkinson's disease [68,69,70], Alzheimer's disease [70,71], strokes, schizophrenia and depression [72].…”

“…Wykazano, że u osób około 85 r.ż. przebywają-cych w domach opieki i pomocy długoterminowej wskaźnik występowania osteoporozy wynosi aż ok. 85,8-95% [66,67]. Deficyt aktywnych metabolitów witaminy D sprzyja również rozwojowi chorób ośrodkowego układu nerwowego (OUN), w tym choroby Parkinsona [68,69,70], choroby Alzheimera [70,71], udarom mózgu, schizofrenii i depresji [72].…”

The Hip Impact Protection Project: design and methods

“…Using data from a previous study of nursing home residents in Maryland [25], we estimated the overall incidence of 5.6 hip fractures per 100 person years of follow-up (or 2.8 hip fractures per hip). In that study, the difference in hip fracture rate between those with and without prior fractures was minimal.…”