RESEARCH carried out by a Hampshire university could help reduce the number of hip fractures suffered by women.

A new study published in medical journal The Lancet reveals that a simple questionnaire, combined with bone mineral density measurements for some, would help identify those at risk of hip fracture.

The study undertaken by several UK universities, including Southampton, which involved more than 12,000 women aged between 70 and

85, found that screening through GP practices allowed patients to be targeted for treatment.

The team used a tool called FRAX, which predicts the probability of a hip fracture or a major osteoporotic fracture (a hip, spine, upper arm or lower arm fracture), to identify older women at high risk.

Of the 12,483 women who took part in the survey, around 6,000 were screened and subsequently one in seven were deemed at high risk of hip fracture.

More than three-quarters of the women at high risk were on osteoporosis medications within six months of screening.

The study suggested that one hip fracture could be prevented for every 111 women screened and early analysis showed that the approach was likely to be more cost-effective.

Professor Lee Shepstone, from University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Given that the number of costly and debilitating hip fractures are expected to increase with an ageing population, the results of this study potentially have important public health implications.”

Dr Natalie Carter, head of research liaison and evaluation at Arthritis Research UK, said: “ As well as significantly increasing mortality, a hip fracture can stop a person’s ability to live independently, with 43 per cent no longer being able to walk independently in the year after the fracture.

“We welcome this community-based screening programme and any other research that reduces the likelihood of fractures.”