ABSTRACT
Incidence of osteoporotic fractures in men In men over the age of 65, the annual hip fracture incidence is 4-5/1000 compared to 8-10/1000 in women.1,2 Although age-specific incidence rates in men are about half those in women, only about 25-30% of all hip fractures occur in men because of differences in life expectancy.3-5 In both sexes, the incidence of these fractures rises exponentially with aging, the majority of fractures occuring in men over the age of 80 years. With continued aging of the population, the annual number of fractures in men is expected to rise dramatically in coming decades. Mortality after sustaining a hip fracture is twice as high in men as in women.6 This difference is only partially explained by differences in comorbidity, suggesting that male gender is a major risk factor for hip fracture-associated mortality. Additionally, almost 50% of men with hip fractures will have to be institutionalized because of the fracture, and up to 80% of those who survive fail to regain their prefracture level of functional independence.
