Hip fractures among the elderly in a Swedish urban setting: different perspectives on the significance of country of birth.
OBJECTIVE
The study investigates the significance of country of birth for hip fractures among the elderly in a Swedish urban setting.


METHODS
Cross-sectional register-based study.


METHODS
All people aged 65 or above hospitalized because of hip fracture in Stockholm County over the years 1993-95 were identified in the County's Hospital Discharge Register. Information was obtained from Sweden's National Population Register on the countries of birth of the people affected (reference year: 1994). The foreign-born were grouped in two ways: according to the geographic location of their country of birth, and to the level of development of that country (as measured by the UN's Human Development Index). Age-standardized odds ratios were computed for men and women separately, with the Swedish-born elderly as reference group.


RESULTS
Many of the foreign-born groups registered significantly lower odds of hip fracture than their Swedish-born counterparts, regardless of whether countries of birth were grouped geographically or according to level of development. This applied to both men and women.


CONCLUSIONS
As a whole, the Swedish elderly population has one of the highest prevalences of hip fracture in the world. When country of origin is accounted for, the foreign-born elderly are significantly less vulnerable than native Swedes. This contrasts remarkably with other health outcomes.
Furugren
Lena
L
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden.
Laflamme
Lucie
L
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology