Today marks the launch of a world-first 'Hip Fracture Registry Toolbox' that is designed to address the rate of death and disability caused by the more than one million hip fractures sustained each year across the Asia Pacific region.
The toolbox was developed by the Asia Pacific Fragility Fracture Alliance (APFFA) in collaboration with the Fragility Fracture Network (FFN). It provides practical and informative information on how people in each country across the region can best advocate for the establishment of a national hip fracture registry.
Tailored to the needs of clinicians, hospital administrators, healthcare systems and governments, the toolbox covers topics such as stakeholder engagement and consolidation, building a case for change, planning and funding a registry, setting up a pilot registry and navigating governance and ethics approval.
One in four patients who sustain a hip fracture die within a year and less than half of those who survive regain their previous level of function.
According to consultant ortho-geriatrician clinical Director of the falls, balance and injury research centre at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), and APFFA hip fracture registry working group co-chair, Professor Jacqui Close, widescale implementation of hip fracture registries worldwide can facilitate vast improvements in care for the millions of people who sustain a hip fracture each year.
“Hospitals can utilise hip fracture registries to benchmark their provision of care against best practice clinical standards for acute care, rehabilitation, and secondary fracture prevention.
“Furthermore, hip fracture registries can transform patient-level data into information that both equips and empowers hospital teams to identify, and develop solutions for key challenges within their respective institutions, and to strive for ongoing improvement in care,” said Professor Close.
By 2050, one in four people across the Asia Pacific will be aged over 60. This portion of the population is expected to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching close to 1.3 billion people.
Consultant geriatrician and medical director of Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group and APFFA hip fracture registry working group co-chair, Dr Hannah Seymour, said hip fracture registries serve as a vital tool underpinning quality improvement initiatives in the Asia Pacific region.
“As of April 2021, 18 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America had established a hip fracture registry, at different stages of maturation, participation and development. Notably, only three registries are currently operating in the Asia Pacific.
“The Hip Fracture Registry Toolbox explains how timely, reliable and constructive feedback to clinical teams, coupled with the engagement and participation of key stakeholders, improves the impact of hip fracture registries,” said Dr Seymour.
Registries can also contribute to government initiatives designed to manage rapidly aging populations and can further help governments to promote the equitable provision of care.