Distal radial fractures occur at a younger age in men than women, study finds

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers found distal radius fractures occurred in a young population of men compared to women, but screening tools for osteoporosis were rarely used in men, according to a presenter at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting, here.

“We found that men sustained distal radius fractures at a younger age than women and they were less severe in nature. We found that the rates of osteoporosis evaluation and treatment were unacceptably low in men and we certainly agree with the current Endocrine Society recommendations to perform bone mineral density tests in all patients over 50 presenting with a fracture,” Carl Harper, MD, from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, stated in his presentation. “Lastly, we recommend the use of FRAX as a tool for the clinician as it provides a validated and objective measure to assess future fracture risk and also in those high risk patients helps clinicians decide upon treatment.”

Harper and colleagues interviewed 95 men and 344 women who were 50 years or older during a 5-year period at a single institution. They collected data on age, fracture severity, whether the injury was a high or low energy injury, comorbidities and treatment type.

In addition to being younger than women during a distal radial fracture, men were less likely to have had a previous fragility fracture and a less severe fracture pattern than women, according to the abstract. However, the severity of fracture and associated comorbidities were similar between genders. When using the FRAX risk assessment tool, researchers found men had a 7.8% 10-year fracture risk for men.

Reference:

Harper C. Paper #4. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting. Oct. 3-5, 2013; San Francisco.

Harper C. J Hand Surg Am. 2013;doi:10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.08.009.

Disclosure: Harper has no relevant financial disclosures.