Falls at work place; Effect of hip geometry on hip fractures in Sri Lankan working community

Abstract

Hip fractures, both extracapsular and intracapsular fractures occur when a person falls on a side. Hip fractures lead to long-term disability, decreased quality of life and even mortality. 50% of patients with hip fracture cannot live independently and up to 20% of them die within a year of the fracture. Previous studies based on different ethnic groups have shown the relationship of hip geometry to the fracture risks. In this study we focus on predicting hip fractures among Sri Lankan population based on the hip geometry. Previous literature have pointed out the importance of identifying the neck shaft angel (NSA) and femoral neck width (FNW) in fracture predictions. We compare the NSA and the ratio between Femoral head diameter to femoral neck width with fractured group and normal group. In both men and women, fractured group has greater NSA compared to the normal group. Femoral head/neck ratio further expressed that, fractured women group has lower ratio compared to the normal group. FNW is greater in fractured women group compared to the normal group.