Lindsay R
Regional Bone Center, Helen Hayes Hospital, West Haverstraw, New York 10993, USA.
Am J Med. 1995 Feb 27;98(2A):9S-11S. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(05)80038-5.
Osteoporotic fractures are generally assumed to be a major public health problem in the western world. Cost calculations are based primarily on hip fractures, which are easy to count since most require hospital admission and surgical intervention. The estimates of cost, which are $10-20 billion annually in the United States to $0.3 billion in England and Wales are therefore likely to be underestimates of the total cost of the disease. As populations age throughout the world, the costs worldwide can only increase, and estimates are staggering. Within 50 years the cost of hip fracture alone in the United States may exceed $240 billion. In some countries there appears also an age-specific increase in incidence that will only compound the problem. It is not clear to what extent therapeutic interventions can control the possible epidemic of fractures in the next century.
骨质疏松性骨折通常被认为是西方世界的一个主要公共卫生问题。成本计算主要基于髋部骨折，因为大多数髋部骨折需要住院治疗和手术干预，所以很容易统计。美国每年的成本估计为100亿至200亿美元，而在英格兰和威尔士为3亿美元，因此这些估计可能低估了该疾病的总成本。随着全球人口老龄化，全球成本只会增加，而且估计数字惊人。50年内，仅美国髋部骨折的成本可能就会超过2400亿美元。在一些国家，发病率似乎也有特定年龄段的上升，这只会使问题更加复杂。目前尚不清楚治疗干预措施在下个世纪能在多大程度上控制可能出现的骨折流行。
