Abstract
More than 350,000 hip fractures occur annually in the United States. Hip fracture is a serious health problem in the geriatric population. It is estimated that by the year 2040 the annual number of hip fractures will exceed 500,000. This article reviews the plethora of primary programs that are currently utilized in the management of hip fracture prevention. The prevention of hip fracture is 3 pronged: to increase bone mineral density, to reduce the number of falls, and to minimize the force of a fall's impact with padding. A review of pharmacologic interventions for treatment of osteoporosis has been described, along with fall prevention programs and environmental designs aimed at hip fracture prevention. In the last decade there have been numerous clinical trials that have studied the effectiveness of external hip protectors. This article is an overview of hip fracture prevention and treatment of osteoporosis as well as fall prevention strategies that may be complemented by the implementation of external hip protectors.