Published: Just now
For older people who use a wheelchair, the risk of suffering a broken leg is significantly lower. This is shown by a new study from the University of Gothenburg.
Wheelchair use often means many hours in the same position, which can lead to poorer bone function and loss of bone mass – and in the long run, an increased risk of fractures.
But for frail elderly people, it’s the other way around, shows a new study published in the journal Jama network open.
The study included 55,443 wheelchair users with an average age of 83, of whom 60 percent were women. The result shows that the people in wheelchairs suffered a total of less than half as many fractures, 4,148, as the control group, which consisted of people who walked by themselves, with or without aids.
For osteoporosis and hip fracture, the differences were even greater, with wheelchair users suffering approximately three times fewer fractures. They were also less than half as likely to fall.
“Since fractures, and especially hip fractures, cause enormous suffering and require large healthcare resources, the findings are important,” says Mattias Lorentzon, professor of geriatrics at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, senior physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and one of the study’s authors, in a press release.