Association of dietary fat intake with the risk of hip fractures in an elderly Chinese population: A matched case-control study

Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the association between dietary fat intake and the risk of hip fractures in an elderly Chinese population.

Methods: A case-control study of 646 patients with newly diagnosed hip fractures and 646 controls, matched by age (±3 years) and sex, was carried out among elderly Chinese (55-80 years) in Guangdong, China. Their dietary fat intake was measured and calculated using a 79-item food-frequency questionnaire.

Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, a dose-dependent increased risk of hip fractures was found to be associated with higher intakes of total fat, animal fat, saturated fatty acids and mono-unsaturated fatty acids (P for trend < 0.005). The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for hip fractures from a comparison of extreme quartiles were 1.92 (1.26-2.92) for total fat, 2.60 (1.70-3.99) for animal fat, 1.95 (1.30-2.93) for saturated fatty acids and 2.22 (1.46-3.39) for animal mono-unsaturated fatty acids, respectively. No significant association was observed for plant fat or polyunsaturated fatty acids (P for trend = 0.063 for plant fat and 0.174 for polyunsaturated fatty acids).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that higher consumption of total fat and animal fat rich in saturated fatty acids might increase the risk of hip fractures in elderly Chinese.