The study by Cauley et al. examines the risk of mortality following clinical fractures in 6459 women aged 55–81 years participating in the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT). The study followed participants for an average of 3.8 years, confirming all fractures and deaths through medical records or death certificates. Clinical fractures were defined as those that came to medical attention. The analysis found that 122 women died during the study, with 23 of these deaths occurring after a clinical fracture. The age-adjusted relative risk of dying following a clinical fracture was 2.15 (95% CI: 1.36, 3.42), with a particularly high risk for hip fractures (6.68, 3.08, 14.52) and clinical vertebral fractures (8.64, 4.45, 16.74). No increase in mortality was observed following forearm or other non-hip, non-wrist, or non-vertebral fractures. The findings suggest that clinical vertebral and hip fractures are associated with a substantial increase in mortality among relatively healthy older women.The study by Cauley et al. examines the risk of mortality following clinical fractures in 6459 women aged 55–81 years participating in the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT). The study followed participants for an average of 3.8 years, confirming all fractures and deaths through medical records or death certificates. Clinical fractures were defined as those that came to medical attention. The analysis found that 122 women died during the study, with 23 of these deaths occurring after a clinical fracture. The age-adjusted relative risk of dying following a clinical fracture was 2.15 (95% CI: 1.36, 3.42), with a particularly high risk for hip fractures (6.68, 3.08, 14.52) and clinical vertebral fractures (8.64, 4.45, 16.74). No increase in mortality was observed following forearm or other non-hip, non-wrist, or non-vertebral fractures. The findings suggest that clinical vertebral and hip fractures are associated with a substantial increase in mortality among relatively healthy older women.