Epidemiology of fracture of the upper end of the humerus

Abstract

The age and sex specific indicence was calculated in 729 cases of fracture of the upper end of the humerus. The prevalence of other fractures and conditions in these patients was investigated. The age and sex specific incidence is as that of femoral neck fracture with a rapid increase with age, twice as fast in women as in men. Only fractures which include evulsion of the greater tuberosity deviate somewhat from that pattern. The more displaced fractures have a tendency to occur later in life. The prevalence of other fractures is about doubled in patients with fracture of the proximal end of the humerus as compared to age and sex matched controls. This is true for fracture of the distal end of the forearm and fracture of the upper end of the femur but also for other fractures. The prevalence of severe alcoholism was significantly greater than in controls. A history of gastric resection was in these patients about three times as frequent as in a control sample. We conclude that fracture of the upper end of the humerus must be assigned a prominent place in the category of bone fragility fractures.