Years of potential life lost after hip fracture among postmenopausal women.

From January 1987 and onwards all cases of hip fracture in Arhus County, Denmark, were registered in a prospective multicenter investigation. Until December 1990, 2273 postmenopausal women (greater than 50 years) with first hip fractures were registered. Of these 643 sustained a hip fracture in 1988. Life tables were constructed for different age groups; the excess mortality (in comparison with the reference population) for each age group ranged from 10 to 20 percent. The years of potential life lost (YPLL) (life expectancy method) were calculated for the 1988 cohort and compared with the YPLL due to other selected conditions calculated from official vital statistics. The YPLL rates (per 1000 persons) were as follows: hip fracture 9.2, ischemic heart disease 73, cerebrovascular disease 29, breast cancer 20 and cancer of the uterus 6.7. We propose that hip fracture mortality data should be continuously registered and evaluated using the YPLL method to detect changes caused by the expected increase in the number of hip fractures.