Citation

Piirtola M, Vahlberg T, Isoaho R, Aarnio PT, Kivelä SL. Aging Clin. Exp. Res. 2007; 19(4): 269-276.

Affiliation

Department of Family Medicine, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland. (maarit.piirtola@utu.fi)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17726356

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The incidence of fractures is high in older populations. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of different fractures and to analyse the changes in age-adjusted yearly incidences among older persons. METHODS: A prospective true cohort design. Information about fractures in 482 men and 695 women aged 65 or over living in the municipality of Lieto, south-western Finland, was collected from 1991 until 2002. Poisson's regression model was used to analyse changes in yearly incidences. RESULTS: During 10,040 person years (PY) of follow-up, 307 (26%) persons sustained 425 fractures. The total incidence rate of fractures was 53.4 per 1000 PY (95% confidence intervals: 47.9-59.5) in women, and 24.9 per 1000 PY (20.4-30.4) in men. The age-specific incidence of fractures increased with age in both genders. Rates of hip and wrist fractures tended to be higher in women. 7.2% subjects sustained two or more fractures during follow- up. The majority of fractures resulted from a fall, and only 3.5% were caused by extremely serious accidents. No significant changes in the age-adjusted incidences of all fractures were found in either gender during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Fractures are common in the aged population, and the incidence of most types of fracture is associated with increasing age. Only a minority of fractures are caused by extremely serious accidents. No significant changes in the age-adjusted yearly incidences of fractures were observed in this aged cohort during a 12-year follow-up.

Language: en