Hip Fracture Epidemiology in Greece During 1977–1992

Hip fracture, the most dramatic complication of osteoporosis, constitutes a serious health problem of the elderly, with great socioeconomic consequences. Hip fracture epidemiology has been studied by many investigators. Until now, reported studies in Greece include either data from only one region, or they do not include all the epidemiological parameters concerning hip fractures. We studied hip fractures that occurred in Greece in 1992 and compared the findings with those of previous years (1977, 1982, 1987), in order to identify age and sex incidence and increase rate during 1977–1992. There has been an average annual increase of 7.6%, thus total hip fractures in Greece increased from 5,100 in 1977 (54.75 fractures/100,000 inhabitants) to 10,953 in 1992 (107.30 fractures/100,000 inhabitants). In 1992, 70% of the patients were women. During the 1977–1992 period, age-adjusted incidence for people aged over 50 increased in both sexes (from 173.54 fractures/100,000 inhabitants in 1977 to 314.07 fractures/100,000 inhabitants in 1992, an increase of age-adjusted incidence of 80.97%). Approximately 50% of the patients in 1992 were aged 80 and over, whereas in 1977 there were only 22.49% patients of the same age. The increase in hip fracture numbers is greater than expected due to population aging, suggesting the existence of other factors influencing this increase. The most affected age group is 80 and over. Received: 3 June 1997 / Accepted: 9 October 1997