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Hip Protectors for the Elderly
Hip Protectors - Introduction to Hip Protectors
Hard Hip Protectors versus Soft Hip Protectors
Hip protectors are medical devices commonly used to reduce the risk of fall related hip injuries - namely hip fractures - in the elderly people, who have compromised bone strength and are at high risk of falling. Most hip fractures occur as a result of a sideway fall, directly impacting on the greater trochanter of the proximal femur. Well designed and correctly positioned hip protectors can help to protect the trochanter. HipSaver hip protector is a true example of user friendly soft hip protectors. HipSaver hip protector is well accepted by elderly people and their carers all over the world. HipSaver soft hip protectors are available in United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia, Israel, Germany and Czech Republic. In the United Kingdom, HipSaver hip protector is distributed exclusively by Win Health Ltd.
Buy HipSaver hip protectorFalls and hip fractures have serious implications on the elderly persons' lives as their consequences can be very severe. There is a high degree of morbidity and mortality, pain and hardship. The majority of people suffering hip fracture never regains their previous mobility and permanently loses their independence. The costs to the health services and social care systems are very high. Well designed and user friendly hip protectors could help to reduce the hip fracture related costs. Acceptable and effective hip protectors also could improve quality of life of many elderly people. Additionally, hip protectors also could reduce emotional upheaval hip fractures place on the families of the injured elderly persons.
Preventing hip fractures is, therefore, of paramount importance. Three types of preventive measures can be implemented:
- preventing falls
- strengthening bones
- reducing the impact sustained during a fall
Hip protectors are designed to protect the hip bones from the effects of a fall. Hip protectors consist of either of hard plastic shields or soft foam pads that are held in place over the hips by specially designed garments - underwear or outer garments. In the event of a fall, such external hip protectors divert the force away, absorb it or provide a protection resulting from a combination of both the shunting and the absorbing of the force. Such protective effects of hip protectors reduce the magnitude of the impact on the hip and can potentially prevent a fracture from occurring.
There has been much debate in respect of the effectiveness of the external hip protectors in the prevention of fall related hip fractures over the last decade.
At present, this debate continues amongst generally negative to hip protectors academics always lobbying for more costly research trials, whilst the practical implementation of hip protectors by carers and nurses at the sharp end of elderly care endlessly delivers real tangible successes.
The research to date focused on hard shell hip protectors. Several major studies on a variety of different hard shelled hip protectors reported that studied hip protectors were not an effective intervention to reduce hip fractures in the frail elderly people. The conclusions on hip protectors were based largely on low acceptance of hard shelled hip protectors with consistently poor compliance or adherence to wearing of such hip protectors by the elderly people.
Examples of the negative studies on hip protectors include the following clinical research triels:
- Prevention of Hip Fractures by External Hip Protectors. A randomised controlled trial. Van Schoor, Smit J. H, Twisk J.W.R, Bouter L. M, Lips P. JAMA. 2003;289: 1957-1962.
- Randomised controlled trial of hip protectors for the prevention of second hip fractures. Birks Y. F, Hildreth R, Campbell P, Sharpe C, Torgerson D.J, Watt I. Age and Ageing:2003;32:442-444.
- Randomised controlled trial of hip protectors among women living in the community. Birks Y.F, Porthouse J, Addie C, Loughney K, Saxon L, Baverstock M, Francis R. M, Reid D. M, Watt I, Torgerson D. J, Primary Care Protector Trial Group. Osteoporosis International. Published online: 3 March 2004.
- A cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate a policy of making hip protectors available to residents of nursing homes. O'Halloran P. D, Cran G. W, Beringer T. R. O, Kernohan G, O'NEill C, Orr J, Dunlop L, Murray L. J. Age and Ageing 2004; 33: 582-588.
*The hip protector studied in all above clinical trials was a commonly known hard shell hip protector.
However, all hip protectors are not the same!
Soft Hip Protectors - the User Friendly Hip Protectors
Soft hip protectors, such as HipSaver hip protector, are more comfortable to wear and have better patient acceptance rates and consistently high adherence to wearing, whilst also delivering effective impact protection. A number of studies with positive outcomes and a wealth of documented practical hip protector implementation projects carried out at nursing homes and elderly care hospitals confirm that consistently good outcomes can be achieved with user friendly hip protectors, such as HipSaver.
HipSaver® hip protectors use encapsulated soft memory foam pads that have been proven effective and widely accepted over many years of use. Biomechanical tests from two independent universities show that HipSavers soft hip protectors reduce fall forces to below the average fracture force.
Studies published in the USA prove both efficacy and high compliance with HipSavers soft hip protectors. In 2003 a 13 months long study published in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) reports zero fracture in 126 falls and a staggering 93% compliance rate in a nursing home population.
A study published in JAMDA in May 2008 and carried out in Shoham Geriatric Medical Center in Israel over a period of 1.5 years using HipSaver soft hip protectors, 80% reduction in hip fractures is shown with 11 fractures prevented in the intervention group. In this trial, the HipSaver intervention group had 106 patients and the control group had 100 patients. There were 14 hip fractures in the control group with total of 323 falls. In the intervention group there were 2 hip fractures in 260 falls. Compliance with HipSaver hip protectors was 75%. The author Dr Doron Garfinkel MD stated in the published text that the trial was not randomised because "we were impressed by the effectiveness of hip protectors in our pilot study in 2003 and it seemed unethical not to offer hip protectors to all new patients after January 2004."
You can find the abstract and the pfd of the full study of the HipSaver Israeli study in JAMDA online www.jamda.com
The Rhino Project 12 month long hip protector study carried out in the West Midlands, United Kingdom reports high user and carer acceptance and high compliance.
Small study at Loughborough University found HipSaver soft hip protectors to be superior to the hard shell protector Safehip in terms of usability and compliance. In this study the 'day time' compliance with HipSaver soft hip protectors was 67% and only 53% with commonly used hard hip protector.
With 11 years on the global market, HipSaver hip protectors are widely used with real successes and preventive gains in hip injury prevention experienced in several countries, such as USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Sweden, Israel and Germany.
Below we list some of the studies and practical projects using HipSaver soft hip protector:
- Hip Pads: Effective fracture prevention. George Gross, Tsan-Hui Chen, Carolyn Flaherty. (2000). Advance for Physical Therapists. 11(22). 45-46.
- Hip Protector Compliance: A 13-Months Study on Factors and Cost in a Long-Term Care Facility. Jeffrey B. Burl, James Centola, Alice Bonner, Colleen Burque. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), 2003: 4 (5): 245-250.
- Prevention of fall-induced hip fractures: Usability evaluation of hip protectors- K.R. Dunn, C.L. Brace, T. Masud, R.A. Haslam, R.O. Morris. Contemporary Ergonomics 2005 (edited by P.D. Bust and P.T. MaCabe).Taylor and Francis, London. Ergonomics Society Conference, Hatfield, 6-8 April 2005, pp 464-468. ISBN 0415374480.
- RHINO Hip Protector Project – a 12 Months Hip Protector Study. Christine Elliott, Dudley,West Midlands. July 2003 - June 2004.
- South West Kent PCT Hip Protector Trial - Sue Betts. 2005.
- Hip Protector Pilot Project - in the Medway and Swale, Catherine Steinmann. 2007.
- High Efficacy for Hip Protectors in the Prevention of Hip Fractures Among Elderly People With Dementia. Doron Garfinkel MD, Zorian Radomislsky MD, Samira Jamal RN, Joshua Ben-Israel MD. Journal of the American Medical Directors (JAMDA), 2008: 9 (5); 313-318.
Albeit the controversy surrounding the use of hip protectors continues, many people feel that there is a future for hip protectors. There is evidence, which indicates that an effective and continually improving hip protectors, such as HipSaver, may lead the way.
HipSaver Patient LeafletPlease refer to other pages of this website to find out more about the HipSaver Hip Protector and its many variants, styles and sizes.
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