Padded undergarments designed to cushion a fall may offer an inexpensive way to prevent hip fractures in the elderly, according to a new report.

Canadian researchers estimate that if these so-called hip protectors were used in the nation’s nursing homes, they would cut patients’ risk of breaking a hip, while saving the health system money.

According to their study, the tactic would end up being cheaper than either of the two most common methods of managing osteoporosis in Canada’s nursing homes - not treating it at all, or using calcium and vitamin D.

Dr. Sonia Singh and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver report the findings in the Journal of Rheumatology.

Hip protectors are pads worn in the sides of a special girdle-type undergarment. Widely used in Europe, they have received comparatively little notice in North America, according to Singh’s team, though two studies in the U.S. have pointed to their cost-effectiveness.

The Canadian researchers based their findings on a cost analysis performed using a “hypothetical” group of 1,000 nursing home patients. They used data from a real nursing home to define the study group’s hip fracture risk, and findings from three large clinical trials to estimate how hip protectors would affect that risk.

The hip protector “model” they used for the study-which includes the pads and three undergarments-costs $150.

The study found that compared with either no treatment or therapy with calcium and vitamin D, hip protectors could save between $10,000 and $11,000 for every hip fracture they prevent.

“Hip protectors appear to be an exciting, cost-effective treatment option to prevent hip fractures in elderly nursing home residents in Canada,” the researchers conclude.

Outside of nursing homes, the authors note, hip protectors may also be worth the cost for elderly people at high risk of hip fracture.

Just as bike helmets are now the norm, the researchers conclude, “hip protectors may become the accepted method for prevention of hip fractures in nursing home residents and in high-risk elderly living in the community.”

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, August 2004.