[General trend of hip fractures]

Osteoporosis constitutes a major public health problem and hip fractures are a major cause of burden associated with osteoporosis in terms of mortality, disability, and costs. Since around 1990, a trend for a decrease of the age-adjusted incidence of hip fractures has been observed in western countries, particularly in women. In Geneva, with a confirmation at the Swiss level, a similar secular trend was observed. Nevertheless, due to the ageing of the population, this decrease of the incidence of hip fracture will probably not be sufficient to reduce the absolute number of these fractures over the next decades. Furthermore, age-adjusted hospitalizations in Switzerland for major non-hip osteoporotic fractures have continued to increase these last years.