Incidence of hip fracture in Kuwait: a national registry-based study

The crude and age-standardized rates of hip fractures in elderly Kuwaiti subpopulation were determined for the years 2009-2012. Both rates have increased and are further expected to rise substantially in the coming decades.

It is projected that rates of hip fractures will increase in most of the Middle East countries. There are only few population-based studies investigating the incidence of hip fractures in the Arabian Gulf region. The objective of this study is to report the crude and age-standardized incidence rates of hip fracture in the Kuwaiti elderly population.

Using the Ministry of Public Health's registry data, this population-based study evaluated the incidence of hip fractures in Kuwaiti subpopulation aged 50 and above for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Using the world population in 2010 as a reference, these incidence rates were age-standardized and compared to data from several regions.

Hip fracture crude incidence rates varied between 113.7 and 147.4/100,000 for males and between 135.3 and 148.1/100,000 for females, with a female/male ratio of 1.3-1.5. The combined (men and women) incidence rate of hip fractures increased by 17.1 % over the 4-year period of study (125.9/100,000 in 2009 to 147.8/100,000 in 2012). Using the world population in 2010 as a reference, the age-standardized rates were 129.5, 131.5, 154.6, and 169.8 for males and 189.6, 192.9, 197.2, and 214.4 for females, for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.

The hip fracture age-standardized incidence rates in the Kuwaiti subpopulation aged 50 years and above are rising and expected to increase substantially in the coming decades.