Number of Hip Fractures Set to Nearly Double by 2050

Although age- and sex-standardized hip fracture incidence rates have decreased in most regions, the number of hip fractures is projected to nearly double by 2050, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Chor-Wing Sing, Ph.D., from the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues used data from 19 countries and regions to identify patients aged 50 years and older hospitalized with a hip fracture from 2005 to 2018 to examine the incidence of hip fracture, postfracture treatment, and all-cause mortality. Data were included for 4,115,046 hip fractures.

The researchers observed variation in the reported age- and sex-standardized incidence rates of hip fractures, from 95.1 to 315.9 per 100,000 population in Brazil and Denmark, respectively. During the study period, incidence rates decreased in most countries; however, from 2018 to 2050, the estimated total annual number of hip fractures was projected to nearly double. Within one year following a hip fracture, postfracture treatment varied from 11.5 to 50.3 percent in Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively, and all-cause mortality rates varied from 14.4 to 28.3 percent in Singapore and the United Kingdom, respectively. Compared with women, men had lower use of antiosteoporosis medication, higher rates of all-cause mortality, and a larger increase in the projected number of hip fractures by 2050.