Background
This study was conducted to estimate incidence rate of osteoporotic fracture among the elderly in a city with 1.2 million inhabitants, Korea.
Methods
The presumptive fracture cases (diagnosis codes; M80, M84.4, M90.7, S12, S22, S32, S42, S52, S72, S82) were selected from medical utilization database of the National Health Insurance Corporation from January to December 1999. Each case has been confirmed as having a fracture through a medical record review. All fracture sites were included but the fracture cases by traffic accidents were excluded. Direct standardization method was used to estimate age-standardized incidence rate.
Results
Total 326 fracture cases occurred. Age-standardized incidence rate of osteoporotic fracture among the elderly was estimated to be 1,162 (95% confidential interval: 1096~1231) per 100,000 persons. Age-standardized incidence rates of fracture of distal radius, hip joint, and thoracic and lumbar spine were 425 (95% confidential interval: 386~467), 231 (95% confidential interval: 202~263), and 160 (95% confidential interval: 136~187) per 100,000 persons, respectively. Direct causes of the fractures were 'slip down' (78.7%), 'unknown' (11.3%), 'fall' (8.0%), and 'spontaneous' (1.8%) in turn. Treatment methods of the fractures were nonoperative method (65.7%), operative method (25.5%), and observation (8.8%) by turn. The proportion of people who had past history of osteoporosis was 33.5%, and among them the proportion of people who took care of it was 53.0%.
Conclusion
These incidence rates of fractures were estimated cross-sectionally by using only one year data. To have more accurate trend and estimate of incidence rate of osteoporotic fracture in the elderly, further studies need to be conducted.
