Low Physical Activity and Impaired Mobility Are Risk Factors of Hip Fracture in Elderly Women - A 13-year Prospective Population Based Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: Hip fracture is the most serious complication of osteoporosis. In order to develop and target prevention strategies, it is essential to find those at increased risk of hip fracture. Decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in the proximal femur is associated with hip fracture risk, but majority of the fractures occur in patients without osteoporosis . Fracture risk is also affected by several structure-related factors as well as lifestylerelated extraskeletal factors . Our objective was to evaluate the predictive value of lifestyle-related factors for cervical and trochanteric hip fractures separately during a 13year follow-up in a population-based cohort of elderly women. We hypothesized that the level of physical activity and other life-style related factors would be associated with the risk of hip fracture and that the predictive factors for the two types of fractures, cervical and trochanteric, would be different.