title: Marked secular increase in the incidence rates of osteoporotic hip fractures in women and men in southern Israel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For the last 35 years, our medical center has been the only referral center and provider of emergency medical services for a well-defined geographic area in southern Israel.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate trends in the incidence of hip fractures in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was based on two surveys done approximately 20 years apart. It included women and men 50 years and older with radiographic evidence of a new hip fracture caused by low impact trauma. Only fractures that resulted from low or moderate trauma were considered for the current study. Incidence rates were calculated based on population data obtained from the official Central Bureau of Statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was an overall twofold increase in the incidence rate of hip fractures. However, this increase occurred almost exclusively in the over-75 year old age groups (2.5-fold increase, both in women and men). The mean (and median) age of patients with hip fractures increased significantly over the study period, corresponding to the increase in longevity between the two periods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a marked secular increase in the incidence of proximal hip fractures in both genders, primarily because of an increase in the fracture rate in the very old. The increase in median age of fracture patients suggests that the observed increase in fracture rate can be attributed mainly to aging of the population rather than to deterioration in bone quality over the generations.
authors.affiliation: Endocrine Unit, Dept of Medicine C, Soroka University Hospital, Beer Sheva, Israel. liel@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Yair
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liel
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Castel
authors.forename: Daphna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alkalay
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors