Fractured neck of femur. Pattern of incidence and implications.

Projected figures for the 1975 incidence of fracture neck of femur in Dundee are compared with the actual figures. Analysis of the incidence in 1952, 1975 and 1980, relating it to age and other factors, shows both an increase in the true incidence and a marked rise in the total number over the period. The length of stay in an Orthopaedic ward is considerably increased if the patient then has to be admitted to a long-stay bed. This length of inpatient stay and the increased incidence continues to raise the demand on acute Orthopaedic female beds.