Effects of alcohol-related diseases on hip fracture and mortality: A retrospective cohort study of hospitalized medicare beneficiaries.

Yuan, Z., Dawson, N., Cooper, G. S., Einstadter, D., Cebul, R., & Rimm, A., A. (2001). American Journal of Public Health, 91(7), 1089-1093.

This retrospective cohort study of hospitalized medicare beneficiaries investigated the effect of alcohol-related disease on hip fracture and mortality. For 1988 to 1989, the investigators studied the incidence rate of hip fracture and mortality among 150,119 hospitalized beneficiaries with alcohol-related disease and 726,218 randomly matched controls without alcohol-related disease.

During the study period, 20,620 patients developed hip fracture, with 6,973 cases occurring in those without alcohol-related disease, and 13,647 cases occurring in patients with alcohol-related disease. After adjustment for potential confounders, patients with alcohol-related disease had a 2.6-fold increased risk of hip fracture compared with to patients without alcohol-related disease.

Implications for clinical practice suggest that alcohol-related disease increases the risk for hip fracture significantly and reduces long-term survival. It also suggests that patients who are hospitalized for alcohol-related disease should be targeted for hip fracture prevention programs.