Osteoporosis and back pain in the elderly. A controlled epidemiologic and radiographic study.

The incidence of back pain was investigated in hip fracture patients, 50-99 years of age, and in 70-, 75-, and 81-year-old controls from the same population. The prevalence of vertebral fractures were evaluated from spinal radiographs. Eighty hip fracture patients and 103 controls, all between 70 and 75 years of age, were included in the radiographic study. The incidence of back pain of the controls was twice that of the hip fracture patients, 45-48% compared with 23-20%, respectively, for both female and male subjects. Conversely, vertebral fractures were radiographically shown in 43% of the hip fracture patients and in 22% of the controls. Thus, the major explanation for longstanding back pain in the elderly does not appear to be related to spinal osteoporosis.