title: Low-trauma knee fractures in older Finnish women between 1970 and 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fresh information on various low-trauma fractures of elderly adults is sparse.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to assess the current trends in the low-trauma knee fractures among older adults in Finland, an EU country with a well-defined white population of 5.4 million.
  
  
  METHODS
  The rates of elderly Finns' low-trauma fractures of the knee (distal femur, patella, and proximal tibia) were assessed by taking into account 60-year-old or older persons who were admitted to Finnish hospitals for primary treatment of such injury in 1970-2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of low-trauma knee fractures among 60-year-old or older Finnish women sharply rose between 1970 and 1997, from 55 fractures (per 100,000 persons) in 1970 to 124 fractures in 1997. Thereafter, the incidence continuously declined so that the fracture incidence was 91 in 2013. The corresponding age-adjusted fracture incidences were 60 (1970), 119 (1997), and 83 (2013). In older men, the fracture incidence was rather steady over time: the age-adjusted incidence was 30 in 1970 vs. 28 in 2013.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rise in the incidence of low-trauma knee fractures in Finnish older women from early 1970s until late 1990s has been followed by a continuous decline in the fracture rate. Reasons for the decline are unknown, but a cohort effect toward a healthier aging female population with improved functionality and decreased risk of injurious slips, trips, and falls could partly explain the observation.
authors.affiliation: Injury and Osteoporosis Research Center, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, P.O. Box 30, 33501, Tampere, Finland. pekka.kannus@uta.fi.|Medical School, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. pekka.kannus@uta.fi.|Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. pekka.kannus@uta.fi.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kannus
authors.affiliation: Tampere Research Center of Sports Medicine, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parkkari
authors.affiliation: Injury and Osteoporosis Research Center, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, P.O. Box 30, 33501, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niemi
authors.affiliation: Injury and Osteoporosis Research Center, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, P.O. Box 30, 33501, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sievänen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Falling; Knee fracture; Older Finns; Secular trends