Abstract
Summary
A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to investigate variation in hip fracture incident rates around the world. The original crude incidence rates were standardized for age and sex for comparability. After standardization, the highest rates of hip fracture were found in Scandinavia and the lowest rates in Africa.
Introduction
This study was conducted to investigate the geographic trends of the incidence of osteoporotic hip fractures through a comprehensive review of literature.
Methods
Studies were identified for inclusion in the review by searching the MEDLINE database via PubMed and applying strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Age-specific incidence rates were extracted from the articles, and in order to provide a common platform for analysis, we used directly age-standardized and age–sex-standardized rates (using the 2005 United Nations estimates of the world population as standard) to complete the analysis.
Results
Forty-six full text articles spanning 33 countries/regions were included in the review. For ease of comparison, the results were analyzed by geographic regions: North America, Latin America, Scandinavia, Europe (excluding Scandinavia), Africa, Asia, and Australia. The highest hip fracture rates were found in Scandinavia and the lowest in Africa. We found comparable rates from countries in North America, Australia, and Europe outside of Scandinavia. The diverse makeup of the Asian continent also resulted in quite variable hip fracture rates: ranging from relatively high rates in Iran to low rates, comparable to those from Africa, in mainland China.
Conclusions
Given the aging of populations globally, and in the industrialized countries specifically, hip fractures will become a progressively larger public health burden. The geographic trends observed in hip fracture incidence rates can provide important clues to etiology and prevention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bentler SE, Liu L, Obrizan M, Cook EA, Wright KB, Geweke JF, Chrischilles EA, Pavlik CE, Wallace RB, Ohsfeldt RL, Jones MP, Rosenthal GE, Wolinsky FD (2009) The aftermath of hip fracture: discharge placement, functional status change, and mortality. Am J Epidemiol 170:1290–1299
da Costa JA, Ribeiro A, Bogas M, Costa L, Varino C, Lucas R, Rodrigues A, Araujo D (2009) Mortality and functional impairment after hip fracture—a prospective study in a Portuguese population. Acta Reumatol Port 34:618–626
Davidson CW, Merrilees MJ, Wilkinson TJ, McKie JS, Gilchrist NL (2001) Hip fracture mortality and morbidity—can we do better? N Z Med J 114:329–332
Holvik K, Ranhoff AH, Martinsen MI, Solheim LF (2010) Predictors of mortality in older hip fracture inpatients admitted to an orthogeriatric unit in Oslo, Norway. J Aging Health 22:1114–1131
Johnell O, Kanis JA, Oden A, Sernbo I, Redlund-Johnell I, Petterson C, De Laet C, Jonsson B (2004) Mortality after osteoporotic fractures. Osteoporos Int 15:38–42
Vaseenon T, Luevitoonvechkij S, Wongtriratanachai P, Rojanasthien S (2010) Long-term mortality after osteoporotic hip fracture in Chiang Mai, Thailand. J Clin Densitom 13:63–67
Abrahamsen B, van Staa T, Ariely R, Olson M, Cooper C (2009) Excess mortality following hip fracture: a systematic epidemiological review. Osteoporos Int 20:1633–1650
Johnell O, Kanis JA (2004) An estimate of the worldwide prevalence, mortality and disability associated with hip fracture. Osteoporos Int 15:897–902
Lin PC, Lu CM (2005) Hip fracture: family caregivers' burden and related factors for older people in Taiwan. J Clin Nurs 14:719–726
Papadimitropoulos EA, Coyte PC, Josse RG, Greenwood CE (1997) Current and projected rates of hip fracture in Canada. CMAJ 157:1357–1363
Gullberg B, Johnell O, Kanis JA (1997) World-wide projections for hip fracture. Osteoporos Int 7:407–413
Johnell O (1997) The socioeconomic burden of fractures: today and in the 21st century. Am J Med 103:20S–25S, discussion 25S–26S
Maggi S, Kelsey JL, Litvak J, Heyse SP (1991) Incidence of hip fractures in the elderly: a cross-national analysis. Osteoporos Int 1:232–241
Bacon WE, Maggi S, Looker A, Harris T, Nair CR, Giaconi J, Honkanen R, Ho SC, Peffers KA, Torring O, Gass R, Gonzalez N (1996) International comparison of hip fracture rates in 1988–89. Osteoporos Int 6:69–75
Fleiss JL (1973) Statistical methods for rates and proportions. Wiley, New York
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2009) World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, Volume II: Sex and Age Distribution of the World Population
Fang J, Freeman R, Jeganathan R, Alderman MH (2004) Variations in hip fracture hospitalization rates among different race/ethnicity groups in New York City. Ethn Dis 14:280–284
Jaglal SB, Sherry PG, Schatzker J (1996) The impact and consequences of hip fracture in Ontario. Can J Surg 39:105–111
Levy AR, Mayo NE, Grimard G (1995) Rates of transcervical and pertrochanteric hip fractures in the province of Quebec, Canada, 1981–1992. Am J Epidemiol 142:428–436
Ross PD, Huang C (2000) Hip fracture incidence among Caucasians in Hawaii is similar to Japanese. A population-based study. Aging (Milano) 12:356–359
Bagur A, Mautalen C, Rubin Z (1994) Epidemiology of hip fractures in an urban population of central Argentina. Osteoporos Int 4:332–335
Castro da Rocha FA, Ribeiro AR (2003) Low incidence of hip fractures in an equatorial area. Osteoporos Int 14:496–499
Clark P, Lavielle P, Franco-Marina F, Ramirez E, Salmeron J, Kanis JA, Cummings SR (2005) Incidence rates and life-time risk of hip fractures in Mexicans over 50 years of age: a population-based study. Osteoporos Int 16:2025–2030
Morosano M, Masoni A, Sanchez A (2005) Incidence of hip fractures in the city of Rosario, Argentina. Osteoporos Int 16:1339–1344
Schwartz AV, Kelsey JL, Maggi S, Tuttleman M, Ho SC, Jonsson PV, Poor G, Sisson de Castro JA, Xu L, Matkin CC, Nelson LM, Heyse SP (1999) International variation in the incidence of hip fractures: cross-national project on osteoporosis for the World Health Organization Program for Research on Aging. Osteoporos Int 9:242–253
Beringer TR, Wilson RA, Swain D, Patterson CC, Beverland D (2000) Proximal femoral fracture in Northern Ireland between 1985–1997—trends and future projections. Ulster Med J 69:112–117
Hernandez JL, Olmos JM, Alonso MA, Gonzalez-Fernandez CR, Martinez J, Pajaron M, Llorca J, Gonzalez-Macias J (2006) Trend in hip fracture epidemiology over a 14-year period in a Spanish population. Osteoporos Int 17:464–470
Icks A, Haastert B, Wildner M, Becker C, Meyer G (2008) Trend of hip fracture incidence in Germany 1995–2004: a population-based study. Osteoporos Int 19:1139–1145
Jequier V, Burnand B, Vader JP, Paccaud F (1995) Hip fracture incidence in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, 1986–1991. Osteoporos Int 5:191–195
Koeck CM, Schwappach DL, Niemann FM, Strassmann TJ, Ebner H, Klaushofer K (2001) Incidence and costs of osteoporosis-associated hip fractures in Austria. Wien Klin Wochenschr 113:371–377
Mann E, Icks A, Haastert B, Meyer G (2008) Hip fracture incidence in the elderly in Austria: an epidemiological study covering the years 1994 to 2006. BMC Geriatr 8:35
Paspati I, Galanos A, Lyritis GP (1998) Hip fracture epidemiology in Greece during 1977–1992. Calcif Tissue Int 62:542–547
Wildner M, Clark DE (2001) Hip fracture incidence in East and West Germany: reassessment ten years after unification. Osteoporos Int 12:136–139
Bjorgul K, Reikeras O (2007) Incidence of hip fracture in southeastern Norway: a study of 1,730 cervical and trochanteric fractures. Int Orthop 31:665–669
Finsen V, Johnsen LG, Trano G, Hansen B, Sneve KS (2004) Hip fracture incidence in central Norway: a followup study. Clin Orthop Relat Res 419:173–178
Giversen IM (2006) Time trends of age-adjusted incidence rates of first hip fractures: a register-based study among older people in Viborg County, Denmark, 1987–1997. Osteoporos Int 17:552–564
Lofman O, Berglund K, Larsson L, Toss G (2002) Changes in hip fracture epidemiology: redistribution between ages, genders and fracture types. Osteoporos Int 13:18–25
Lofthus CM, Osnes EK, Falch JA, Kaastad TS, Kristiansen IS, Nordsletten L, Stensvold I, Meyer HE (2001) Epidemiology of hip fractures in Oslo, Norway. Bone 29:413–418
Lonnroos E, Kautiainen H, Karppi P, Huusko T, Hartikainen S, Kiviranta I, Sulkava R (2006) Increased incidence of hip fractures. A population based-study in Finland. Bone 39:623–627
Nymark T, Lauritsen JM, Ovesen O, Rock ND, Jeune B (2006) Decreasing incidence of hip fracture in the Funen County, Denmark. Acta Orthop 77:109–113
Rogmark C, Sernbo I, Johnell O, Nilsson JA (1999) Incidence of hip fractures in Malmo, Sweden, 1992–1995. A trend-break. Acta Orthop Scand 70:19–22
El Maghraoui A, Koumba BA, Jroundi I, Achemlal L, Bezza A, Tazi MA (2005) Epidemiology of hip fractures in 2002 in Rabat, Morocco. Osteoporos Int 16:597–602
Zebaze RM, Seeman E (2003) Epidemiology of hip and wrist fractures in Cameroon, Africa. Osteoporos Int 14:301–305
al-Nuaim AR, Kremli M, al-Nuaim M, Sandkgi S (1995) Incidence of proximal femur fracture in an urbanized community in Saudi Arabia. Calcif Tissue Int 56:536–538
Baddoura R (2001) Incidence of hip fractures in the Lebanese population. East Mediterr Health J 7:725–729
Hagino H, Katagiri H, Okano T, Yamamoto K, Teshima R (2005) Increasing incidence of hip fracture in Tottori Prefecture, Japan: trend from 1986 to 2001. Osteoporos Int 16:1963–1968
Huang KY, Chang JK, Ling SY, Endo N, Takahashi HE (2000) Epidemiology of cervical and trochanteric fractures of the proximal femur in 1996 in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. J Bone Miner Metab 18:89–95
Iga T, Dohmae Y, Endo N, Takahashi HE (1999) Increase in the incidence of cervical and trochanteric fractures of the proximal femur in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. J Bone Miner Metab 17:224–231
Ikeda S, Hirano T, Iwasaki K (1994) Incidence of fracture of the neck of the femur in Nagasaki Prefecture. J Bone Miner Metab 12:69–76
Koh LK, Saw SM, Lee JJ, Leong KH, Lee J, National Working Committee on Osteoporosis (2001) Hip fracture incidence rates in Singapore 1991–1998. Osteoporos Int 12:311–318
Lau EM, Lee JK, Suriwongpaisal P, Saw SM, De Das S, Khir A, Sambrook P (2001) The incidence of hip fracture in four Asian countries: the Asian Osteoporosis Study (AOS). Osteoporos Int 12:239–243
Lim S, Koo BK, Lee EJ, Park JH, Kim MH, Shin KH, Ha YC, Cho NH, Shin CS (2008) Incidence of hip fractures in Korea. J Bone Miner Metab 26:400–405
Memon A, Pospula WM, Tantawy AY, Abdul-Ghafar S, Suresh A, Al-Rowaih A (1998) Incidence of hip fracture in Kuwait. Int J Epidemiol 27:860–865
Moayyeri A, Soltani A, Larijani B, Naghavi M, Alaeddini F, Abolhassani F (2006) Epidemiology of hip fracture in Iran: results from the Iranian Multicenter Study on Accidental Injuries. Osteoporos Int 17:1252–1257
Orimo H, Hashimoto T, Sakata K, Yoshimura N, Suzuki T, Hosoi T (2000) Trends in the incidence of hip fracture in Japan, 1987–1997: the third nationwide survey. J Bone Miner Metab 18:126–131
Rowe SM, Song EK, Kim JS, Lee JY, Park YB, Bae BH, Hur CI (2005) Rising incidence of hip fracture in Gwangju City and Chonnam Province, Korea. J Korean Med Sci 20:655–658
Shukla JJ, Khandekar RB (2008) Magnitude and determinants of osteoporosis in adult population of South Sharqiya region of Oman. Saudi Med J 29:984–988
Soveid M, Serati AR, Masoompoor M (2005) Incidence of hip fracture in Shiraz, Iran. Osteoporos Int 16:1412–1416
Yan L, Zhou B, Prentice A, Wang X, Golden MH (1999) Epidemiological study of hip fracture in Shenyang, People's Republic of China. Bone 24:151–155
Zhang L, Cheng A, Bai Z, Lu Y, Endo N, Dohmae Y, Takahashi HE (2000) Epidemiology of cervical and trochanteric fractures of the proximal femur in 1994 in Tangshan, China. J Bone Miner Metab 18:84–88
Boufous S, Finch CF, Lord SR (2004) Incidence of hip fracture in New South Wales: are our efforts having an effect? Med J Aust 180:623–626
Sanders KM, Seeman E, Ugoni AM, Pasco JA, Martin TJ, Skoric B, Nicholson GC, Kotowicz MA (1999) Age- and gender-specific rate of fractures in Australia: a population-based study. Osteoporos Int 10:240–247
Adebajo AO, Cooper C, Evans JG (1991) Fractures of the hip and distal forearm in West Africa and the United Kingdom. Age Ageing 20:435–438
Lunt M, Felsenberg D, Adams J, Benevolenskaya L, Cannata J, Dequeker J, Dodenhof C, Falch JA, Johnell O, Khaw KT, Masaryk P, Pols H, Poor G, Reid D, Scheidt-Nave C, Weber K, Silman AJ, Reeve J (1997) Population-based geographic variations in DXA bone density in Europe: the EVOS Study. European Vertebral Osteoporosis. Osteoporos Int 7:175–189
Cundy T, Cornish J, Evans MC, Gamble G, Stapleton J, Reid IR (1995) Sources of interracial variation in bone mineral density. J Bone Miner Res 10:368–373
Russell-Aulet M, Wang J, Thornton JC, Colt EW, Pierson RN Jr (1993) Bone mineral density and mass in a cross-sectional study of white and Asian women. J Bone Miner Res 8:575–582
Nordin BE (1966) International patterns of osteoporosis. Clin Orthop Relat Res 45:17–30
Aspray TJ, Prentice A, Cole TJ, Sawo Y, Reeve J, Francis RM (1996) Low bone mineral content is common but osteoporotic fractures are rare in elderly rural Gambian women. J Bone Miner Res 11:1019–1025
Cohn SH, Abesamis C, Yasumura S, Aloia JF, Zanzi I, Ellis KJ (1977) Comparative skeletal mass and radial bone mineral content in black and white women. Metabolism 26:171–178
Moldawer M, Zimmerman SJ, Collins LC (1965) Incidence of osteoporosis in elderly whites and elderly Negroes. JAMA 194:859–862
Cummings SR, Cauley JA, Palermo L, Ross PD, Wasnich RD, Black D, Faulkner KG (1994) Racial differences in hip axis lengths might explain racial differences in rates of hip fracture. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Osteoporos Int 4:226–229
Pfeifer M, Minne HW (1999) Vitamin D and hip fracture. Trends Endocrinol Metab 10:417–420
Parfitt AM, Gallagher JC, Heaney RP, Johnston CC, Neer R, Whedon GD (1982) Vitamin D and bone health in the elderly. Am J Clin Nutr 36:1014–1031
Jacobsen SJ, Goldberg J, Miles TP, Brody JA, Stiers W, Rimm AA (1990) Regional variation in the incidence of hip fracture. US white women aged 65 years and older. JAMA 264:500–502
Zhang Y, Hunter DJ, Nevitt MC, Xu L, Niu J, Lui LY, Yu W, Aliabadi P, Felson DT (2004) Association of squatting with increased prevalence of radiographic tibiofemoral knee osteoarthritis: the Beijing Osteoarthritis Study. Arthritis Rheum 50:1187–1192
Hoaglund FT, Yau AC, Wong WL (1973) Osteoarthritis of the hip and other joints in southern Chinese in Hong Kong. J Bone Joint Surg Am 55:545–557
Sanders KM, Nicholson GC, Ugoni AM, Seeman E, Pasco JA, Kotowicz MA (2002) Fracture rates lower in rural than urban communities: the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. J Epidemiol Community Health 56:466–470
Sernbo I, Johnell O, Andersson T (1988) Differences in the incidence of hip fracture. Comparison of an urban and a rural population in southern Sweden. Acta Orthop Scand 59:382–385
Chevalley T, Herrmann FR, Delmi M, Stern R, Hoffmeyer P, Rapin CH, Rizzoli R (2002) Evaluation of the age-adjusted incidence of hip fractures between urban and rural areas: the difference is not related to the prevalence of institutions for the elderly. Osteoporos Int 13:113–118
Madhok R, Melton LJ 3rd, Atkinson EJ, O'Fallon WM, Lewallen DG (1993) Urban vs rural increase in hip fracture incidence. Age and sex of 901 cases 1980–89 in Olmsted County, U.S.A. Acta Orthop Scand 64:543–548
United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division (2009) World population prospects: 2008 revision. CD-ROM edition: supplemented by official national statistics published in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2007. 2010
Xu L, Lu A, Zhao X, Chen X, Cummings SR (1996) Very low rates of hip fracture in Beijing, People's Republic of China: the Beijing Osteoporosis Project. Am J Epidemiol 144:901–907
Pauwels RA, Buist AS, Calverley PM, Jenkins CR, Hurd SS, GOLD Scientific Committee (2001) Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. NHLBI/WHO Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Workshop summary. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 163:1256–1276
Conflicts of interest
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, S.Y., Levy, A.R., Lefaivre, K.A. et al. Geographic trends in incidence of hip fractures: a comprehensive literature review. Osteoporos Int 22, 2575–2586 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-011-1596-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-011-1596-z