Association between Body Mass Index, Abdominal Obesity, and Body Size with Hip and Femoral Fractures in the Elderly

The risk of bone fractures, particularly hip fractures is increasing in the elderly. One of the known factors for predicting fractures is body mass index (BMI) and abdominal obesity. Thus, this study aimed to determine the association between obesity (general and abdominal) with femoral and hip fractures according to gender and age.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 patients with femoral or hip fractures admitted to the orthopedic ward of Khatam Al-Anbia Hospital in Zahedan were selected between March 2018 and May 2019.  Waist circumference (WC), wrist circumference, BMI, and body size were measured. A P-value of <0.05 was considered as statistical significant. All the analyses were performed by SPSS software version 21.

The highest rate of hip fracture was observed in people aged over 70 years (61.9%, P < 0.01). The highest rate of hip and femoral fractures were observed in individuals with BMI < 23 kg/m2 (P < 0.001) and taller people (>167 cm) (P < 0.0001). The risk of fractures decreased with increasing WC (P < 0.01). Approximately half of those with hip fractures (52.4%) and femoral fractures (51.9%) had small size.

On the basis of our findings, taller height, lower BMI and smaller body size have been suggested as potential contributions to the risk of femoral and hip fractures. It is suggested that abdominal fat may be protective against the risk of hip and femoral fractures at older ages, which requires further research.