Shock absorbing pants designed to tackle the escalating problem of hip fractures in the elderly could be put to the test in York.

The study into the use of hip protectors - special 'pants' fitted with shock absorbing panels at the hips to reduce the trauma caused by a fall - is being carried out by Dr David Torgerson of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York.

It is hoped the research project - one of 10 being funded by the National Osteoporosis Society to investigate causes and treatments of the painful bone disease - will be given the go-ahead by York District Hospital's ethical committee.

The new trial, which would involve more than 400 patients across the region wearing the 'pants', follows a recent report presented at the European Foundation for Osteoporosis conference in Belgium and co-written by Dr Torgerson which estimates the cost of treating fractures due to osteoporosis to be £200 million more than previous estimates.

York District Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Peter Campbell is backing the trial which, he said, could get under way as early as May."I think it's quite exciting that York is combining with the university in this way to look at something that hasn't been looked at at all in this country," he said.

Pat Chalk, chair of the York group of the National Osteoporosis Society is optimistic that the new study will be a crucial step towards reducing the mortality rate following hip fractures; there are now more than 60,000 hip fractures a year in the UK and nearly a quarter of patients die within a year.

"The cost to the NHS is absolutely astronomical," she said.

"If the hip protectors do the trick then I'm all for them. More and more GPs are becoming aware of osteoporosis, but still not enough is being done."

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