Osteomalacia as a contributing factor in fracture of the femoral neck in the elderly in Quatar.

Eighty-seven patients with femoral neck fractures were investigated for possible evidence of osteomalacia. Eighteen patients were under the age of 50, or had sustained the fracture following severe injury. No evidence of osteomalacia was demonstrated in this group. In the remaining 69 patients the fracture was associated with a trivial injury, and in some patients no history of injury could be obtained. Only 16 (23.2%) of these showed evidence of osteomalacia; in 7 (10.1%) the disease was suspected. This occurred more often in women than men, and in trochanteric rather than cervical fractures.