Hip fractures and Alzheimer's disease in elderly institutionalized Canadians.

Purpose: To examine the associations among Alzheimer's disease, hip fractures, and falls in elderly Canadians > or = 65 years of age (n=1513) who participated in the National Population Health Survey for Health Institutions between 1994 and 1995.

Methods: The survey was designed to provide health-related information for residents of Canadian health institutions. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between hip fractures and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Covariates assessed included osteoporosis, age, sex, medications, and comorbid conditions. We did an additional analysis confined to participants who fell, in an attempt to tease out the contribution of falling to the relation between AD and hip fractures.

Results: The adjusted odds ratio relating Alzheimer's disease to hip fracture was 2.18 (95% CI: 1.26-3.79). Among those who reported falling, the adjusted odds ratio relating Alzheimer's disease to hip fracture was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.01-3.14).

Conclusions: The most important finding in this study is the independent relation between Alzheimer's disease and hip fractures.