Pedersen AB, et al. – In this nationwide study, the physicians explored the risks of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke in elderly patients with hip fracture. They found an increased risk of both MI and stroke in patients with hip fracture up to one year following the fracture. However, the risk of stroke, but not of MI, was elevated during up to 10 years post–fracture. These findings highlighted the importance of targeting multimorbidity, including prevention and adequate treatment, to improve the prognosis of hip fracture patients.

• The physicians utilized Danish health registries, in 1995–2015 including 110,563 hip fracture patients and 552,774 members of the comparison cohort from the general population.
• Thirty–day cumulative incidences of MI were 1.15% among patients with hip fracture and 0.09% in the general population (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 12.97 (95% confidence interval (CI): 11.56–14.55)).
• Thirty–day cumulative incidences of stroke were 2.16% for hip fracture patients and 0.21% in the general population (aHR= 9.42 (95% CI: 8.71–10.19)).
• During the 31–365 days following hip fracture, the aHR for MI was 1.05 (95% CI: 0.97–1.14) and remained at this level during the remainder of follow–up (maximum of 20 years).
• Investigations displayed that the aHR for stroke was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.22–1.35) during the 31–365 days following hip fracture, remained elevated for up to 10 years, and then decreased to the general–population level.
• For both men and women, and in all age and comorbidity groups, the aHRs for MI and stroke were increased.
• During the first 30 days, up to 76% of MI and stroke risk was attributable to interaction between hip fracture and comorbidity.