The relevance of gender in the care of hip fracture patients

Abstract

As in many conditions, gender interplays with other social structures of inequality to impact upon women's and men's health and healthcare. This narrative review examines knowledge about sex, gender and hip fracture and suggests ways of highlighting the influence of gender in hip fracture healthcare. These will be considered in relation to two areas. Firstly the multifactorial dimension of hip fractures which identifies ethnicity, marital status, lifestyle, co-morbidities, environment in relation to falls and osteoporosis as important factors influencing the experience of hip fracture. Secondly the importance of acknowledging gender as a key element within research and management of care. Implications for practice are that we need a raised awareness of gender when we assess and care for patients, to ask critical questions about the gender bias in the evidence we use and reflect on how services and care practices may be biased towards gendered assumptions.