Fractures of the proximal end of the femur in Göteborg, Sweden, 1940-1979.

A total of 3475 fractures of the proximal femur occurring in Göteborg. Sweden, in 1965, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1978 and 1979 were reviewed, and the information obtained was compared with earlier published epidemiologic data from Göteborg presented by Mårtensson (1962) for the years 1940-1959. A highly statistically significant age specific increase in fracture incidence was found for trochanteric as well as cervical fractures, and for both women and men. The fracture incidence increased from about 3 per 1000 in 1965 to 5 per 1000 in 1979, and the yearly number of fractures in this city from 104 in 1940 to 788 in 1979. With the present trend the fracture incidence will double over the next 20 years.