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An increased rate of falling leads to a rise in fracture risk in postmenopausal women with self-reported osteoarthritis: a prospective multinational cohort study (GLOW)

Prieto-Alhambra, Daniel
Nogues, Xavier
Javaid, M. Kassim
Wyman, Allison
Arden, Nigel K.
Cooper, Cyrus
Adachi, Jonathan D.
Boonen, Steven
Chapurlat, Roland D.
Compston, Juliet E.
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Patients with osteoarthritis have increased bone mass

METHODS: The Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women is a prospective multinational cohort of 60 393 non-institutionalised women aged ≥55 years who had visited primary care practices within the previous 2 years. Questionnaires were mailed at yearly intervals. Patients were classified as having osteoarthritis if they answered yes to the question, 'Has a doctor or other health provider ever said that you had osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease?', and this was validated against primary care records in a subsample. Information on incident falls, fractures and covariates was self-reported. Cox and Poisson models were used for incident fractures and number of falls, respectively, to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and rate ratios (RRs) for baseline osteoarthritis status.

RESULTS:

Of 51 386 women followed for a median of 2.9 years (interquartile range 2.1-3.0), 20 409 (40%) reported osteoarthritis. The adjusted HR for osteoarthritis predicting fracture was 1.21 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.30; p

CONCLUSIONS:

Postmenopausal women with self-reported osteoarthritis have a 20% increased risk of fracture and experience 25% more falls than those without osteoarthritis. These data suggest that increased falls are the causal pathway of the association between osteoarthritis and fractures.

Source

Ann Rheum Dis. 2012 Jun 23. [Epub ahead of print] doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201451

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10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201451
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22730372
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