Type of Hip Fracture in Patients With Parkinson Disease is Associated With Femoral Bone Mineral Density

Objective: To investigate the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and hip fracture type (cervical or trochanteric) in a sample of fallers with Parkinson disease (PD). Design: Observational study. Setting: Rehabilitation hospital in Italy. Patients: We investigated 1040 of 1120 white fallers consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation hospital for hip fracture. Thirty-eight (3.65%) of the 1040 patients suffered from PD secondarily. Thirty-eight controls matched for sex, age, and hip fracture type were found among the 1002 non-PD fallers. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: BMD was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at a mean +/- SD of 21.9 +/- 7.5 days after fracture occurrence in the 38 PD patients and 21.6 +/- 5.9 days after fracture occurrence in the 38 controls. Results: BMD assessed at total femur, trochanter, and intertrochanteric region was significantly lower in the 15 PD patients with trochanteric fractures than in the 23 with cervical fractures; the mean T score differences were 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.07-1.08; P=.028), 0.66 (95% CI, 0.04-1.28; P=.037), and 0.63 (95% Cl, 0.11-1.15; P=.019), respectively. A significant association between femoral BMD and hip fracture type was found at logistic regression after adjustment for several confounders. Results in the 38 controls were similar to those obtained in the 38 PD fallers. Conclusions: In a sample of PD fallers as in a control group of non-PD fallers, BMD levels assessed at 3 femoral sites were significantly lower in the patients who sustained trochanteric fractures than in those with cervical fractures of the hip.