Incidence of four major types of osteoporotic fragility fractures among elderly individuals in Sado, Japan, in 2015.

The aim of this study was to survey the incidence of osteoporotic fragility fractures, which include vertebral, hip, distal radius, and proximal humerus fractures, in patients ≥ 50 years of age, from 2004 to 2015, in Sado City, Japan. We examined temporal changes in the incidence of these fractures from 2010 through 2015. The incidence of vertebral (p < 0.001) and radius fractures (p = 0.001) was lower in 2015 than in 2010, with only the incidence of hip fracture (p = 0.013) being lower in 2015 than in 2004. With regard to age-specific incidences, there was a sharp increase in vertebral and hip fractures among the segment of the population 70-89 years old, with no remarkable change in the incidence of radial and humeral fractures. Pre-existing vertebral fractures were identified in 69.6% of patients with a hip fracture, 35.6% of patients with a distal radius fracture, and 55% of patients with a humeral fracture. Among patients with pre-existing vertebral fractures, 42.5% had a single fracture, whereas 57.5% had 2 or more fractures. The proportion of patients on anti-osteoporotic agents before the occurrence of fractures increased to 14.5% in 2015, compared to 4% in 2004 and 7.6% in 2010. We speculate that the increase in the use of anti-osteoporotic agents is the main reason for the declining incidence of fractures. Therefore, considering the sharp increase in hip and vertebral fractures among individuals in their mid-1970s and older, judicious use of anti-osteoporotic agents among these individuals could be useful for lowering the occurrence of these fractures.