Fracture Epidemiology Research

Researchers at the Musculoskeletal group within the IFAR have over twenty years of experience in studying the epidemiology of osteoporotic fractures. Current key projects include:

Framingham Osteoporosis Study - The Framingham Heart Study began in 1948 with the goal of determining cardiovascular risk factors among middle aged adults. http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org Beginning in 1986 Dr. Kiel and colleagues began to collect information on fractures and risk factors for fracture. Beginning in 1996 these efforts were expanded as researchers began to collect information on risk factors for fracture from participants of the related Framingham Offspring Study, a study comprised of the first-degree relatives of the Framingham Heart Study and their spouses. Currently researchers are busy as enrollment for Framingham Generation 3 is underway. To date researchers have published over 100 manuscripts describing various risk factors for osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture using the Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study. The Framingham Osteoporosis Study has also been intensively studying the genetics of osteoporosis and related traits using data from the Framingham Heart Study SNP Health Association Resource (FHS SHARe Project). http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2350-8-S1-S1.pdf

Nursing Home Fracture Study - Despite the fact that hip fractures occur more frequently among nursing home residents compared with community-dwellers, few studies have studied outcomes following a hip fracture in this frail population. This study found a high incidence of subsequent fracture among nursing home residents with hip fracture even after accounting for the competing risk of death. Additional analyses will examine the effect of pre-fracture characteristics, hospital complications, and 6-month complications as predictors of mortality following hip fracture in the nursing home setting.