Citation

Kannus P, Niemi S, Sievänen H, Parkkari J. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2017; 72(10): 1390-1393.

Affiliation

Tampere Research Center of Sports Medicine, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Tampere, Finland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Gerontological Society of America)

DOI

10.1093/gerona/glx073

PMID

28475669

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Low-trauma fractures of elderly women are a major public health concern.

METHODS: We determined the current trend in the absolute number and incidence (per 100,000 persons) of fresh low-trauma fractures of the proximal humerus among 80-year-old or older Finnish women by taking into account all women who were admitted to Finnish hospitals for primary treatment of such a fracture between 1970 and 2015.

RESULTS: The number of low-trauma fractures of the proximal humerus among 80-year-old or older Finnish women rose continuously between 1970 (32 fractures) and 2015 (568 fractures), whereas the age-adjusted fracture rate (showing a clear rise from 87 fractures per 100,000 persons in 1970 to 304 fractures in 1995) became stabilized between 1995 and 2015 (297 fractures per 100,000 persons in 2015).

CONCLUSIONS: The clear rise in the incidence of low-trauma proximal humeral fractures in Finnish elderly women from early 1970s until mid 1990s has been followed by stabilized fracture rates. Reasons for this are largely unknown, but a cohort effect toward a healthier aging population with improved functional ability, as well as measures to prevent falls and alleviate fall severity, could partly explain the phenomenon.

Language: en

Keywords

Elderly Finnish women; Proximal humeral fracture; Secular trends