Incidence of osteoporotic fractures in Southern Israel

Background: Very little is known about the epidemiology of osteoporotic fractures in Israel. Aim: We aimed to provide an estimate on the incidence of low-impact fractures in southern Israel. Methods: The study included women and men 50 years and older with radiographic evidence of a new fracture. We screened and reviewed all the emergency room and hospital charts to identify all patients with low impact fractures who attended the Soroka Hospital during the corresponding months of January and February of 1998 through 2001. Results: There were a total of 580 fracture patients (461 women and 119 men). The estimated incidence of all low-impact fractures in the entire population aged 50 and older was 1064/100,000 (95% C.I. 981; 1153) per year. The estimated incidence of low-impact fractures in women was three fold higher than in men [1526/100,000 (95% C.I. 1390; 1675) vs. 490/100,000 (95% C.I. 408; 580) per year, respectively]. Fractures of the distal forearm and proximal hip (26% each) were, by far, the most common in women, followed by fractures of the humerus (18%), ankle (12%) and pelvis (5%). In men, proximal hip fractures (39%) were the most common, followed by fractures of the humerus (18%), distal forearm (15%) and ankle (14%). Multiple concurrent fractures occurred in 2.5% of the patients. Conclusions: Our data provides a preliminary estimate of the incidence of osteoporotic fractures, not including most vertebral collapse fractures, among women and men in southern Israel. Further studies are warranted to characterize fracture risk in other regions of the country and population sub-groups.