Epidemiology of diaphyseal femoral fracture.

The incidence of diaphyseal femoral fracture in adults, aged 20 years and older, was determined in Stockholm County using hospital admission rates. The validity of the data was investigated by a study of the medical records of a sample of 277 cases and also by determining the incidence in a subpopulation of 139 cases using an alternative method. The incidence decreased from age 20 to middle age after which it increased into old age. The age-related increase was more pronounced in women and in fractures caused by moderate trauma. From 1972 to 1981, the incidence of diaphyseal femoral fracture caused by moderate trauma increased annually by 10 per cent in women aged 75 years and older.