THE RISK OF FALL-RELATED HIP FRACTURE INJURY IN OLDER PEOPLE

Promoting and maintaining good health in ageing, as well as prevention of fall-related injury are two of the National Priority Areas for health research. These priority areas have been endorsed because of the impact on public health of two concurrent trends the population ageing and the increasing incidence of fall-related injuries. Hip fractures are the most serious fall-related injury because they contribute substantially to increased disability and mortality in older age. The incidence of hip fractures worldwide is increasing with ageing of the population and they present a serious challenge to health care systems in future years. This book was based on the premise that healthy ageing strategies present an opportunity to address fall-related injury prevention using population-based interventions. The purpose of the research was, therefore, to test the hypothesis that healthy ageing factors are protective of fall-related hip fracture injury in older people.