Review of the significance of various low force fractures in the elderly.

The elderly are more prone to sustain fractures with low force injury because they have an increased incidence of falls, and because their bones are often more fragile secondary to osteoporosis and other conditions. Cases with fracture are routinely reported to medical examiner and coroner offices because fracture reflects traumatic injury. If a fracture is judged to be a significant factor in a person's death, then the manner of death must reflect how the injury was sustained, which is "accidental" in most of these cases. Often times the best information on the significance of a fracture is obtained from the deceased's physician, nurse, family, or close acquaintance. However, this valuable clinical information is not always available. When this is the situation, it would be helpful to know generally what fractures are likely to be associated with increased mortality, and for how long any excess mortality might be expected to persist. With this in mind, a search of the literature was performed to clarify clinically which fractures in the elderly population were associated with excess mortality and the duration that any excess mortality tended to persist.