Obesity and Risk of Hip Fracture in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

BackgroundMany observational studies assessed the association between obesity and risk of hip fracture in adults, but reported controversial results. Our goal was to evaluate the association between obesity and risk of hip fracture in adults by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. MethodsThree databases, PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, were searched through May 2012 to identify eligible cohort studies. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled relative risk (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (95%CI). ResultsFifteen prospective cohort studies involving a total 3,126,313 participants were finally included into this meta-analysis. Overall, adults with obesity compared with the normal weight group had a significantly decreased risk of hip fracture (RR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.77, P ConclusionsThis meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies suggests that obesity significantly decreases the risk of hip fracture in adults, and obesity is probably a protective factor of hip fracture in adults.