Unexpected geographic variation in rates of hospitalization for patients who have fracture of the hip. Medicare enrollees in the United States.

With the use of data from hospitals for fiscal year 1985, we calculated the rates of hospitalization for fracture of the hip, by state of residence, for all enrollees in Medicare who were sixty-five years old or older; we adjusted for age and race. The rate of fracture of the hip was highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast, especially in women. The cause of this difference is not known.