title: Incidence and costs of hip fractures compared to acute myocardial infarction in the Italian population: a 4-year survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few data are available about the incidence and costs of hip fractures in Italy. We aimed to determine the impact of hip fractures vs. acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied the national hospitalization database to calculate their incidence and costs in adults aged >or=45 between 1999 and 2002.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2002, there were 86,719 hip fractures with a 10.0% increase over 4 years. We observed a predominance of women (77.1%) and a strong age effect: 92.7% of patients were >or=65 years old and 80% of fractures occurred in women aged >or=75, showing a clear relationship with the incidence of osteoporosis. Hospitalizations due to AMI after 45 years of age in 1999 were only 9% higher than those for hip fracture, although this difference increased over the 4 examined years up to 24%. Considering the DRGs costs, hip fractures resulted in being more expensive than AMI overall and concerning elderly people.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that in the Italian population aged >or=45, hospitalizations following hip fracture and AMI between 1999 and 2002 were comparable, while hip fractures' direct costs were higher and grew faster than costs for AMI. Hip fractures in Italy are a serious medical problem and a leading health-cost driver.
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, ISBEM Research Center, Brindisi, Italy. prisco.piscitelli@tiscali.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piscitelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iolascon
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gimigliano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muratore
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Camboa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Borgia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Forcina
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fitto
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Robaud
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Termini
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Rini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gianicolo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angeli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Distante
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gimigliano
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guida
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017678:Sex Distribution