Implications for practice and research

• All healthcare providers including professional nurses who take care of older people should be aware of, and prepared for, increased risks of fractures according to frailty.

• Future research should be focused on developing evidence-based interventions to reduce fracture risks in frail older people.

Context

Older people are a heterogeneous population that often has multiple medical problems, disabilities and comorbidities with different patterns and severity. It is therefore challenging to provide optimal care for older patients and meet their healthcare needs. The term ‘frailty’ has gained increasing attention and interest from healthcare providers and researchers. It has emerged as a significant concept to assess overall health status of older people. Because frailty involves age-related deficit accumulation and depleted physiological reserve across multiple body systems, frail individuals are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality as well as other various negative health outcomes than fit …