Hip fractures have serious consequences, and its one-year mortality rate is 30%.

A new study published in Arthritis Care & Research assessed the independent risk of hip fractures in patients with newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared to the general population, accounting for baseline and time-varying confounders.

The present study included 5047 patients with incident SLE who received treatment from 1997-2015. Additionally, 25 235 non-SLE individuals were randomly selected from the general population and matched (5:1) to those with SLE on age-, sex-, and index year. The mean age of the participants was 40 years and 86% were females. The outcome was first hip fracture after study entry. The impact of SLE on hip fractures was estimated, adjusting for baseline and time-dependent covariates – glucocorticoid use and number of outpatient, inpatient and rheumatologist visits.

Overall, 73 and 272 hip fractures were detected during 78 915 and 395 427 person-years, respectively. The crude incidence rate ratio was 1.34; after adjusting for baseline covariates, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.86. The HR after further adjustment for time-dependent covariates remained significant.

From the results, it was concluded that patients with newly diagnosed SLE have a 62% increased risk of hip fractures compared to non-SLE individuals. This finding may have important implications in the prevention of osteoporosis and subsequent hip fracture, in SLE patients.

Source: Li L, Xie H, Lu N, Esdaile J, Aviña‐Zubieta J. The Impact of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on the Risk of Newly Diagnosed Hip Fracture. A General Population‐Based Study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019. doi:10.1002/acr.24112