Population-based Canadian hip fracture rates with international comparisons.
CONCLUSIONS
We identified hospitalizations throughout Canada during 2000-2005 in which the most responsible diagnosis was a proximal femoral fracture. Use of the US fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) would be inappropriate for Canada as it would overestimate fracture risk in Canadian women and older men.


BACKGROUND
It is recommended that the WHO fracture risk assessment tool should be calibrated to the target population.


METHODS
We identified hospitalizations for women and men throughout Canada during the study period 2000-2005 in which the most responsible diagnosis was a proximal femoral fracture (147,982 hip fractures). Age-standardized hip fracture rates were compared between Canadian provinces, and national rates were compared with those reported for the USA and Germany.


RESULTS
There were relatively small differences in hip fracture rates between provinces, and most did not differ appreciably from the Canadian average. Hip fracture rates for women in Canada in 2001 were substantially lower than in the USA (population-weighted rate ratio 0.70) and were also lower than in Germany for 2004 (population-weighted rate ratio 0.74).


CONCLUSIONS
Overall hip fracture rates for Canadian women were found to be substantially lower than those for the USA and Germany. This study underscores the importance of assessing country-specific fracture patterns prior to adopting an existing FRAX tool.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medicine (C5121), University of Manitoba, 409 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2H 2A6, Canada. bleslie@sbgh.mb.ca
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Leslie
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Walsh
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Siminoski
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Kendler
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D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology