Recently published article by i3S/INEB researchers is ON THE NEWS

Back in January, i3S/INEB researchers Carla Oliveira, Sandra Alves and Maria de Fátima Pina published the article Marked socioeconomic inequalities in hip fracture incidence rates during the Bone and Joint Decade (2000–2010) in Portugal: age and sex temporal trends in a population based study in the "Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health", which is now getting a lot of media attention.

Social disparities are a relevant factor when considering older women's bone health. The study found that women with a lower income are particularly affected by osteoporosis and subsequent fractures.
Osteoporosis-related bone fractures are highly incapacitating, reducing the quality of life and eventually leading to an untimely death for 35% of men and 20% of women, in particular when it comes to hip fracture. They also entail high medical costs.
However, of all the causes for incapacity in the elderly, hip fracture is one the easiest to prevent. That is why initiatives like Década do Osso (2000-2010) were launched, combining awareness campaigns to reduce falling risks and administration of osteoporosis medication, with encouraging results.
Hip fracture incidence progressively decreased over the decade, but those numbers came to an abrupt halt in 2007, when the worldwide economic crisis erupted and the elderly got some pension cuts, which meant that medication seen as nonessential such as osteoporosis (as opposed to, say, high blood pressure medication) was discontinued by low-income classes. Fátima Pina explains that the consequences of abandoning the medication are immediate, just as the benefits of taking it are also felt in the short term.

Nonetheless, low income might not explain everything. As Fátima Pina stresses, environmental variables, namely water composition, could also play a central role. "Water's chemical compounds could explain many of the geographical differences", Fátima Pina points out, adding that "some water compounds are linked to fracture risk because some minerals available in water and some foods sediment in bones over the years, brittling them.

Understanding the behavior towards medication and the impact of environmental factors will allow for better management of osteoporosis and the devise of an effective concerted strategy to fight the disease.