[Hip fracture surgery in the elderly patient: epidemiological data and risk factors]

Abstract

Health care administration is concerned about the escalating cost of geriatric trauma care and more specifically hip fracture (HF). By 2050, the wordwide annual incidence of HF among elderly people will be 4.5 million (predictible incidence in France: 150,000) and prevention will be more important than ever. The risk of hip fracture in older people increases exponentially with age. The main other risk factors are osteoporosis and osteopenia, gender, weight, physical activity. The most important cause of osteoporosis is the gradual bone loss that occurs after the menopause. Similarly, there is a strong association with gender: the female-to-male ratio of HF is greater than 2/1 in people over 50 years of age (mean age: 83.2 yrs in female and 79.6 yrs in male in France). One year mortality after hip fracture is remarkably high, around 20 to 30%.