Researchers from New Delhi have found that measuring vitamin D levels among the elderly may be a useful way to assess the risk for these individuals to suffer a hip fracture.

While previous studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency has been considered a hip fracture risk, the new investigation unveils that levels of this vitamin are in fact very low for individuals who experience a hip fracture.

The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that there are approximately 316,000 hospitalizations due to hip fractures among those who are 65 and older each year. However, that number is expected to exceed 500,000 over the next three decades.

For this study, 90 hip fracture patients were compared to a control group of similar age, poor health and sex. Nearly 77 percent of those who had sustained a hip fracture were vitamin D deficient while only 32 percent of the controls had low levels of vitamin D.

Insufficient levels of vitamin D have been linked to poor bone health, diabetes, some cancers and osteoporosis, according to the CDC. Individuals could consume fish like mackerel, salmon and tuna as well as mushrooms and eggs to increase their vitamin D intake.