US healthcare system can't keep up with number of baby boomers' bone fractures

Many Baby Boomers will experience a bone fracture as they age, and the current US healthcare system is not prepared to provide the necessary care required, according to a special monograph released in the January 2011 issue of Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation (GOS), published by SAGE.

The first members of the post World War II Baby Boom generation will reach 65 years old this year. The Baby Boomers encompass an estimated 78 million Americans and are expected to live longer and healthier than preceding generations, however, due to their advancing age, will likely experience fragility fractures (a fracture from a weak or osteoporotic bone). The GOS Editors have addressed the challenge of caring for this specialized population, with the release of "A Guide to Improving the Care of Patients with Fragility Fractures."

Written as a guide for physicians, nurses, therapists, hospital administrators, and students, this monograph offers an evidence-based approach to better quality – but still cost-effective – care of patients dealing with fragility fractures. The well-written, thoroughly-referenced and detailed Guide provides direction to improve both the system of care and on-site specific fracture management, detailing such subjects as:

• The scope of the problem
  
• Different types of fractures
  
• Hospital admission and preoperative care
  
• Surgery
  
• Postoperative considerations
  
• Non-surgical options
  
• Rehabilitation and nutrition
  
• Models of care throughout the US

"The scope of fragility fractures in the United States is large and will grow over the next 20 years as the population ages," write editors Stephen L. Kates, MD and Simon C. Mears, MD, PhD. "There is much that can be done to idealize the outcomes of these patients. Additional research is needed to further improve the quality of care. We plan to update this blue book as new information concerning the care of seniors with fragility fractures develops."