Reducing hip and non-vertebral fractures in institutionalised older adults by restoring inadequate intakes of protein and calcium is cost-saving

BACKGROUND: older adults in aged care account for 30% of the population burden of hip fractures. Nutritional interventions to correct under nutrition reduce these debilitating fractures, perhaps partly by reducing falls and slowing deterioration in bone morphology. OBJECTIVE: to determine whether a nutritional approach to fracture risk reduction in aged care homes is cost-effective. DESIGN: cost-effectiveness was estimated based on results from a prospective 2-year cluster-randomised controlled trial and secondary data. Intervention residents consumed a total of 3.5 daily servings of milk, yoghurt and/or cheese, resulting in 1,142 mg of calcium and 69 g of protein compared with the daily intakes of 700 mg of calcium and 58 g of protein consumed by the control group. SETTING: fifty-six aged care homes. PARTICIPANTS: residents for 27 intervention (n = 3,313) and 29 control (n = 3,911) homes. METHODS: ambulance, hospital, rehabilitation and residential care costs incurred by fracture were estimated. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios per fracture averted within a 2-year time horizon were estimated from the Australian healthcare perspective applying a 5% discount rate on costs after the first year. RESULTS: intervention providing high-protein and high-calcium foods reduced fractures at a daily cost of AU$0.66 per resident. The base-case results showed that the intervention was cost-saving per fracture averted, with robust results in a variety of sensitivity and scenario analyses. Scaling the benefits of intervention equates to a saving of AU$66,780,000 annually in Australia and remained cost-saving up to a daily food expenditure of AU$1.07 per resident. CONCLUSIONS: averting hip and other non-vertebral fractures in aged care residents by restoring nutritional inadequacy of protein and calcium is cost-saving.