Admission Rates for hip Fracture in Australia in the last Decade: The New South Wales scene in a world perspective

Abstract

To study the changes in admission rates for hip fracture in New South Wales in the last decade; and to compare the age-adjusted rates with those from Europe, America and Asia. Hospital discharge data for the years 1981, 1986 and 1989-1990 for New South Wales were used. The number of patients discharged with hip fracture (International Classification of Diseases code 820) as one of the diagnoses was calculated. Age-specific rates were calculated using the census population for 1981, 1986 and 1991. These rates were then directly standardised to the 1985 United States population and then presented with similarly adjusted rates from countries in Europe, America and Asia. For New South Wales men, the incidence rates of hip fracture (directly standardised to the 1985 United States population) for 1981, 1986 and 1989-1990 were 148 per 100,000, 181 per 100,000 and 182 per 100,000 respectively. In women, the rates for these three years were 437 per 100,000, 537 per 100,000 and 500 per 100,000 respectively. The age-adjusted rates for both men and women were high and were comparable to the rates in the United States and New Zealand. The incidence of hip fracture in NSW in the last decade was very high by world standards. The prevention of hip fracture is essential as the Australian population ages.