Factors associated with Colles' fracture in the elderly.
We have measured sway, hearing and eyesight in a group of elderly patients with Colles' fracture (3 males, 21 females, mean age 75.9 years) and in a control group of elderly fallers (5 males, 19 females, mean age 76.9 years) who had no fractures. The Colles' fracture group had better eyesight than the control group (p = 0.022), but worse hearing, particularly at lower frequencies (p less than 0.0001 at 500 Hz), suggesting a conductive hearing loss. We conclude that those individuals with better eyesight would try to stretch their arm to break a fall, so breaking their wrist. Osteoporotic changes in the auditory ossicles is proposed as a possible cause for the hearing loss in the Colles' fracture group. We conclude that those individuals presenting with Colles' fracture may also have hearing loss and conversely, patients presenting with a conductive hearing loss may be at risk of developing the further symptoms of osteoporosis.
Haboubi
N Y
NY
Department of Medicine for the Elderly, Maelor Hospital, Wrexham, Clwyd, UK.
Hudson
P R
PR
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D003100:Colles' Fracture / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000150:complications*