Age- and sex-specific incidence of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures. An analysis based on 20,538 fractures in Stockholm County, Sweden, 1972-1981.

The risk of fracturing the proximal femur is high for individuals with metabolic bone disease or with low bone mass associated with advanced age. Incidences of 20,538 trochanteric and femoral neck fractures in adult Swedish men and women, from a computerized medical information register for all hospitals in Stockholm County, were analyzed for age- and sex-dependence. The rate of increase in the occurrence of fracture was nearly constant for both sexes, exponentially increasing with age for men over 20 years old and for women over 30 years old. The incidence of trochanteric and femoral neck fracture for men doubled every 7.8 and 7.0 years, respectively. The doubling rate of fracture incidence for premenopausal women, aged 30 to 49 years, did not significantly differ from that for postmenopausal women, aged 50 to 69 years. These findings suggest that age-associated factors common to both sexes provide the main risk for fracturing the proximal femur. Menopause does not pose a major risk.