Decreased incidence of hip fracture in Hispanics, Asians, and blacks: California Hospital Discharge Data.

We examined the incidence of hip fracture in Non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian Americans for the years 1983 and 1984 using a data base which contains a summary of all hospitalizations for the State of California. We found a consistently lower risk for hip fracture after age 60 in Hispanic, Black, and Asian American females than in White females who were not Hispanic. Overall age-adjusted hip fracture rates in Hispanic, Black, and Asian females were 49.7, 57.3, and 85.4, respectively, and 140.7/100,000 in White females who were not Hispanic. These differences were not found in males, although Whites (not Hispanic) had the highest incidence of hip fractures among males.