Citation

Furugren L, Laflamme L. Scand. J. Public Health 2007; 35(1): 11-16.

Affiliation

Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Associations of Public Health in the Nordic Countries Regions, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1080/14034940600733925

PMID

17366082

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The study investigates the significance of country of birth for hip fractures among the elderly in a Swedish urban setting. DESIGN: Cross-sectional register-based study. METHODS: All people aged 65 or above hospitalized because of hip fracture in Stockholm County over the years 1993-95 were identified in the County's Hospital Discharge Register. Information was obtained from Sweden's National Population Register on the countries of birth of the people affected (reference year: 1994). The foreign-born were grouped in two ways: according to the geographic location of their country of birth, and to the level of development of that country (as measured by the UN's Human Development Index). Age-standardized odds ratios were computed for men and women separately, with the Swedish-born elderly as reference group. RESULTS: Many of the foreign-born groups registered significantly lower odds of hip fracture than their Swedish-born counterparts, regardless of whether countries of birth were grouped geographically or according to level of development. This applied to both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: As a whole, the Swedish elderly population has one of the highest prevalences of hip fracture in the world. When country of origin is accounted for, the foreign-born elderly are significantly less vulnerable than native Swedes. This contrasts remarkably with other health outcomes.

Language: en