A Prospective Study of the Effect of Fracture on Measured Physical Performance: Results from the MacArthur Study--MAC

Objective: To examine the impact of fractures on measured physical performance and to assess whether specific fractures have unique sequelae.

Subjects: 762 men and women, aged 70 to 79 at baseline, who were part of the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging.

Design: A longitudinal case-cohort: those with prevalent fractures at baseline were excluded; cases were persons with a medically diagnosed hip, arm, spine, or wrist fracture during the follow-up period (1988-1995).

Measures: Eight physical performance tests: turning a circle, walking fast, chair stands, timed tap, tandem stand, grip strength, single leg stand, and balance (average of single leg and tandem stands) measured at baseline and follow-up.

Analysis: Two fracture groups were defined: (1) those with incident wrist fractures (n = 7) and (2) those with a fracture of the hip, arm, or spine (combined fractures group, n = 16). Change in physical performance was analyzed using crude, age-adjusted, and multiply-adjusted ANCOVA models.

Results: The combined fracture group demonstrated statistically significant (P < .05) declines seven of eight of the performance tests compared with individuals without fractures. In contrast, individuals with wrist fractures did not experience a statistically significant decline in any performance measure compared with the no fracture group.

Conclusions: Relative to those without fractures, individuals with a hip, arm, or clinical spinal fracture show similar global declines in physical performance, whereas those with wrist fracture demonstrate no physical performance decrements.