Current use of thiazide diuretics and prevention of femur fractures

• Published in: Journal of clinical epidemiology Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 115 - 119
• Main Authors: Herings, Ron M.C., Stricker, Bruno H.C., de Boer, Anthonius, Bakker, Albert, Sturmans, Ferd, Stergachis, Andy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 1996
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Benzothiadiazines; case control study; Case-Control Studies; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology); Diuretics; Female; Femoral Fractures - epidemiology; Femoral Fractures - etiology; Femoral Fractures - prevention & control; Femoral Neck Fractures - epidemiology; Femoral Neck Fractures - etiology; Femoral Neck Fractures - prevention & control; femur fractures; Health Status; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Netherlands - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Pharmacoepidemiology; pharmacotherapy; Risk Factors; Sodium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Thiazide diuretics; Netherlands; femur fractures; Thiazide diuretics; pharmacotherapy; case control study; pharmacoepidemiology
• ISSN: 0895-4356; 1878-5921
• DOI: 10.1016/0895-4356(95)00552-8

A case control study of a defined population from The Netherlands was performed to evaluate the risk of femur fractures associated with the use of thiazide diuretics. Included were 386 patients hospitalized for femur fractures between 1986 and 1990 who were residents and 45 years of age and older. Per case, one age-, sex-, pharmacy-, and general practitioner-matched control was chosen from the general population. Drug use was ascertained from computerized pharmacy records. The adjusted odds ratio of current use of thiazide diuretics was 0.5 (95% confidence interval, 0.3–0.9).The protective effect of thiazide diuretics was greatest for use of 1 year or longer at relatively high doses of thiazides (odds ratio, 0.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.1–0.9). We also found that patients who discontinued thiazide use longer than 2 months were not protected against femur fractures. These results support the hypothesis that use of thiazide diuretics protects against femur fractures.