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The aim of this study was to survey the incidence of osteoporotic fragility fractures, which include vertebral, hip, distal radius, and proximal humerus fractures, in patients ≥ 50 years of age, from 2004 to 2015, in Sado City, Japan. We examined temporal changes in the incidence of these fractures from 2010 through 2015. The incidence of vertebral (p < 0.001) and radius fractures (p = 0.001) was lower in 2015 than in 2010, with only the incidence of hip fracture (p = 0.013) being lower in 2015 than in 2004. With regard to age-specific incidences, there was a sharp increase in vertebral and hip fractures among the segment of the population 70-89 years old, with no remarkable change in the incidence of radial and humeral fractures. Pre-existing vertebral fractures were identified in 69.6% of patients with a hip fracture, 35.6% of patients with a distal radius fracture, and 55% of patients with a humeral fracture. Among patients with pre-existing vertebral fractures, 42.5% had a single fracture, whereas 57.5% had 2 or more fractures. The proportion of patients on anti-osteoporotic agents before the occurrence of fractures increased to 14.5% in 2015, compared to 4% in 2004 and 7.6% in 2010. We speculate that the increase in the use of anti-osteoporotic agents is the main reason for the declining incidence of fractures. Therefore, considering the sharp increase in hip and vertebral fractures among individuals in their mid-1970s and older, judicious use of anti-osteoporotic agents among these individuals could be useful for lowering the occurrence of these fractures.

We investigated the incidence of hip fracture in patients aged ≥50 years in 2015 in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. We also determined the long-term trend in hip fracture incidence from 1985 to 2015. In 2015, 3214 hip fractures occurred in Niigata Prefecture. The crude incidence rate of hip fracture was 282.7 per 100,000 persons per year (122.9 in men and 416.4 in women). The incidence of hip fracture decreased from 2010 to 2015 in all age groups except in men aged 65-69 years and women aged 60-64 years. The percentage of patients who took anti-osteoporotic medication before their hip fractures increased from 10.2% in 2010 to 14.9% in 2015. The age-specific incidence in women tended to increase until 2010, but significantly decreased from 2010 to 2015 (p < 0.001). Similarly, the incidence in men decreased from 2010 to 2015 but was not significantly different from that in 1994 (p = 0.633); this incidence had been increasing since 1999. In conclusion, a generally increasing trend was observed in the incidence of hip fractures for 30 years in both men and women in Niigata Prefecture; however, it turned into a descending trend beginning in 2010.

Due to the increasing elderly population, the prevalence of osteoporotic hip fractures in Japanese patients continues to rise. It is well established that patients with either hip fracture or both symptomatic and asymptomatic morphometric vertebral compression fracture (VCF) have a poor health prognosis compared with the general population. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate vertebral fracture rates among patients with hip fracture and their influence on mortality. We examined 182 cases of osteoporotic hip fracture in patients admitted to our institution between January 2009 and May 2011. The average age at the time of fracture was 85 years. Radiographs of the lumbar spine were obtained from all of the participants and the lateral spinal radiographs were examined for evidence of VCF. The patients were classified into two groups, those with VCF and those without. A VCF was identified in approximately 78 % of the patients. The mortality rate 1 year after the hip fracture was approximately 22 % and it was significantly higher in patients with VCF. Through multivariate statistics we found that VCF, post-operative complication, loss of ambulation after operation and medication for osteoporosis were statistically significant. In other words, VCF, post-operative complication and loss of ambulation were considered to be poor prognostic factors and medication for osteoporosis was likely to improve the prognosis. We concluded that the risk of mortality after hip fracture is significantly greater in patients who also have VCF compared to patients without VCF, and that medication for osteoporosis is likely to improve prognosis.

We investigated the incidence of hip fracture in a population of patients ≥50 years old in 2004 and 2010 in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. We also investigated the long-term trends in the incidence of hip fracture from 1985 to 2010, using our previously reported survey results obtained from 1985 to 1999. In 2004 and 2010, the survey found 2,368 and 3,218 proximal femur fractures, respectively. The crude hip fracture incidence rates in 2004 and 2010 were 215.8 and 281.5 per 100,000 of population per year, respectively. For males, the incidence rates were 99.9 in 2004 and 126.3 in 2010; for females, the incidence rates were 311.0 and 410.7, respectively. In males aged 80-84 years, the incidence rate since 1999 has been decreasing, while that for males >85 years peaked in 2004. In females of all ages, the incidence rate was higher in 2010 than in all other survey periods, and in females >85 years, the incidence has increased the fastest. Additionally, the long-term changes in the age- and sex-standardized incidence each year using the 1985 population structure in Japan in females has been increasing, although it decreased in 1999. However, in males, the incidence in 2010 was not significantly different from that in 1994, although it has been increasing since 1999. Our study findings indicate that the age-specific incidence of hip fractures in the Niigata Prefecture of Japan has not plateaued in females, but that it may have done so in males; in addition, the number and incidence of hip fractures has been increasing.

We conducted a survey of fracture incidences associated with senile osteoporosis in 2010 in Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, including compression vertebral fractures, hip fractures, distal radius fractures, and fractures of the proximal end of the humerus. We previously conducted a similar survey from 2004-2006 in Sado City. The purpose of the current study was to determine the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in Sado City in 2010 and to examine changes over time. We calculated the incidence of each fracture per 100,000 person-years based on the population of Sado City. Hip and vertebral fractures showed marked increases from 2004-2006, but a similar increase was not found from 2006-2010. The average age at injury increased in 2010 compared to 2004, except for fractures of the radius. Among the subjects with hip fractures, 14 % had a history of contralateral hip fracture. The percentage of patients taking medication for osteoporosis before injury was higher in 2010 compared with 2004, but these percentages were still only 7 and 13 % for those with subsequent hip and vertebral fractures, respectively.