Introduction.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Hip fractures rank in the top 10 of all-cause disability worldwide, and the number of hip fractures is expected to rise to more than 6 million per year by 2050.1,2 Demographic projections by Statistics Canada indicate that, by the year 2036, 1 in 4 Canadians will be older than 653 years and that the annual number of hip fractures is likely to exceed 88,000 in Canada and 500,000 in the United States.1,4–6 Over half of hip fractures (54%) are femoral neck fractures, two-thirds of which are typically displaced and treated with arthroplasty, whereas one-third are undisplaced and treated with internal fixation. We conducted 2 multicenter, randomized controlled trials focusing on the management options for fractures of the femoral neck. The FAITH (Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures) trial compared the intervention of cancellous screws with a sliding hip screw in 1079 patients 50 years of age or older with a low-energy displaced or undisplaced femoral neck fracture, while the HEALTH (Hip Fracture Evaluation with Alternatives of Total Hip Arthroplasty vs. Hemiarthroplasty) trial compared the intervention of total hip arthroplasty with hemiarthroplasty in 1441 patients 50 years of age or older with low-energy displaced femoral neck fractures.7,8 Please refer to the Study Summaries portion of the supplement for further details on these 2 trials. The data collected as part of the FAITH and HEALTH trials provide a unique opportunity to answer highly relevant clinical questions in this fracture population. The following supplement is dedicated to addressing 12 highly relevant clinical questions using data from the FAITH and HEALTH trials.