Bone Abstracts

The body mass index has been regarded as a risk predictor factor for fractures, and in some prospective cohort studies it has been suggested that obesity could be a protective factor for hip fractures in adults.

The present study aimed to investigate whether body mass index is related to the fracture risk when individuals had sideways falls in Mexican patients. We analyzed files from 448 patients, which checked in at Orthopedics and Traumatology Service in a public Mexican hospital. We excluded 317 files, which had recorded injuries for other causes (e.g. traffic accidents, or height higher than 2 meters). Our final sample was 131 patients who suffered fractures from sideways falls and were older than 18 years. The age mean was of 53.4 years old for women, and 39 years old for men. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software. Hospital Ethics and Research Committee approved the present study.

Results indicated that there was a significant association between the gender and the fracture risk (P<0.001), showing that women had and approximate 40% elevated risk of sideways fall fractures. The analysis (Pearson’s chi square) also showed that the proportion of normal and overweight women who suffered fractures was significantly higher than underweight women (P<0.001) and obese women (P<0.05). In the case of men, normal weight, overweight and obese patients showed higher proportions when compared to underweight (P<0.01).

In conclusion, these results are in agreement to other reports, showing the increased risk for women. However we found that a higher body mass index does not protect from fractures in adults, at least for this sample in our region, which has one of the highest obesity rates in the country. Strategies should be designed to promote within women older than 40 years changes in lifestyle to increase the bone strength.