2010 Home-Based Exercises May Protect High-Risk Elderly Women From Hip Fractures Medscape

Description: September 27, 2010 —Home-based exercises may protect high-risk elderly women from hip fractures, according to the results of a population-based, randomized controlled exercise trial reported in the September 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The exercise group had significantly better outcomes than the control group in postural sway (group x time interaction, P = .005), walking speed (group x time interaction, P <.001), and Frenchay Activities Index score (group x time interaction, P = .001). However, both groups had similar decreases in bone mineral density across time.
During extended follow-up, women in the exercise group had an incidence rate of fractures 0.05 per 1000 person-years vs 0.08 per 1000 person-years among women in the control group (Poisson incidence rate ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34 - 1.32). None of the women in the exercise group had hip fractures vs 5 in the control group. There was 1 death in the exercise group and 8 deaths in the control group (Poisson incidence rate ratio, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.01 - 0.85).