Using real-world data to explore medication use in patients with hip fractures

Australia spends $17 billion a year on medicines with 40 new medicines licensed each year. However, evidence from clinical trials are often on selected patients under highly controlled settings. They are often not representative of the diverse medicine users who may be older and frailer and have more complications.

My research aims to understand the safety profile of medicines using digital footprints patients leave when using healthcare services. Our study was the first to report that stopping a medicine (risedronate) before hip fracture increases the risk of death after hip fracture, but not for another medicine (alendronate) of the same class. 

This highlights the danger of medicine may vary with usage that may not be studied in clinical trials. Using digital footprints can lead to better understanding and better healthcare.