Pre-injury demographic patterns of patients sustaining hip fractures in malaysia.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Hip fractures entail a growing economic burden on the health care system. Study is warranted to further our understanding of its patterns and to create increased awareness in health care providers and the public. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data was extracted from the ongoing National Orthopaedic Registry of Malaysia (NORM), for the period June 2008 till December 2009. Patients aged 50 years and above without previous pathological fracture hip fractures were included in the study. RESULTS Most hip fracture patients were 70 years and above (69.5%) with a mean (SD) age of 73.8 (10.3) years. Females represented the majority of the patients in this study (68.4%). Low energy trauma (i.e. trivial fall) was to the main mechanism of hip fractures in this study (81.3%). CONCLUSIONS Aging adults should be made aware of timely preventive strategies (including osteoporosis prevention) fall prevention measures, and encouraged to maintain physically active lifestyles. KEY WORDS Hip fracture, pre-fracture status.