Osteoporosis occurs in a wide range of severity, from mild cases with no fracture or only a single forearm fracture during a life time, to severe cases with multiple fractures of various kinds with sequelae. There was some previous work which had been done about HRQOL among those who had osteoporotic fractures, but there was not prospective cohort study comparing HRQOL after different types of fractures measured with the same instrument and at the same interval after fracture yet.

    The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of osteoporosis fractures on Health-related Quality of life. They invited 600 women 55-75 years old with a new fracture by mail. After screening with the preset criteria, 303 women were included. HRQOL was evaluated by the SF-36 questionnaire and compared with local, age-matched reference material. In addition, X-ray and bone mineral density were examined both 82 days after the fracture and 2 years later.

    The results were that at the baseline, scores of all SF-36 domains after vertebral fractures and most domains after hip fracture reduced, which occurred only in some domains after forearm and humerus fractures. When the study came to its end, the researchers found that improvements had been made during the two years, but HRQOL scores of those who had hip fractures were still lower than normal level regarding physical function, role-physical, and social function, and scores of those who had vertebral fractures were significantly lower for all domains. They also found out the correlation between the number of fractures and HRQOL.

    At last, they drawn the conclusion that vertebral and hip fractures had greater and more prolonged impact on HRQOL than forearm and humerus fractures. In addition, there was an inverse correlation between the number of fractures and HRQOL. And this finding can provide scientific support when making priorities in health care programs.