Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Seniors are the fastest growing population in Canada, and will comprise at least 25% of the population by 2036. A consequence of this shift in age pyramid is an increase in the prevalence of frailty among seniors. When frailty is severe, it substantially affects one's capacity to fight minor illnesses. Seniors who are frail suffer from multiple chronic diseases and may consume over 45% of overall healthcare spending. One way to measure frailty is to examine the complexity of it by accounting for all health deficits that accumulate over individuals' life spans (e.g., signs, symptoms, diseases, medications, cognitive and psycho-social impairments). Frailty is highly correlated with the risk of dying, falls and fractures. It is reversible if treated early. Zoledronic acid is a bone-sparing drug used for treating patients with osteoporosis. Research has shown that zoledronic acid reduced mortality in addition to fractures, but no study has examined the drug's effect on frailty or determined the long-term economic impact in senior populations. My post-doctoral research will synthesize data of all published reviews and studies that examined the effectiveness of zoledronic acid on diverse health outcomes in older adults with osteoporosis. The novelty of this proposal is the use of advanced Bayesian statistics to combine the evidence published in experimental and non-experimental studies. I will determine if zoledronic acid reduces frailty and fractures in the elderly with osteoporosis and will estimate the corresponding probabilities of benefit and harm. I will also analyze data collected from approximately 2,100 patients with hip fracture to tease out whether zoledronic acid reduces frailty. Finally, I will apply advanced economic methods to model the complexity of frailty to determine if the long-term use of zoledronic acid represents good value for money in seniors with osteoporosis living in or outside long-term care facilities.