The epidemiology of fractures of the proximal femur.

Between 1980 and 1989, reports on 21,145 fractures of the proximal part of the femur (15,428 women and 5,717 men) were collected by AO Documentation and are analysed in the present paper. The number of fractures increases exponentially with age for women and for men. Up to 50, the number of fractures is higher for men than for women and vice versa after 55 years. The exponential increase in the number of fractures with age appears for all the types A1 to B3 for both women and men. No special increase has been identified for women after 50 (expected age of menopause).