[Epidemiology of hip fractures in the elderly in Spain].

Background: Ninety percent of hip fractures (HF) occur in people older than 64 years. We describe the epidemiological data (age, sex, date of admission and discharge and mortality) of elderly with hip fracture in the different regions of Spain.

Method: Data obtained from the Minimum Data Set of the Ministry of Health were used to analyse hip fracture incidence (Identified by codes 820.0 through 820.9 of the International Classification of Diseases) from 1996 through 1999. Demographic data of Spanish population were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics. HF rates were calculated using crude and age-and-sex adjusted density of incidence. Factors associated with in-hospital mortality were assessed by multivariate analyses.

Results: 89% (130.414) of 146.383 HF cases studied were in elderly patients with a mean age of 82 years old, being 78% females. The results showed a great variability through the different regions. Length of hospital stay was 16 days, and in-hospital mortality was 5%. Global HF rate was 517 cases per 100.000 elderly per year (270 cases/100.000 elderly males and 695/100.000 elderly females). In-hospital mortality was higher in males than females (8.1% vs 4.2%, respectively), increases progressively with age and it is higher during winter months. Factors associated with mortality were old age, male gender, fractured in winter, and living in Regions others than Mediterranean and Canary Islands.

Conclusions: Hip fracture is a condition that occurs more commonly in elderly people. It is more frequent in females and shows a great variation in incidence, mortality and length of hospital stay through different Spanish regions.