Setting: Three general hospitals in the town of Marília that have an orthopaedic and traumatologic unit. Marília is a Municipality with 161.000 inhabitants in the middle-east of São Paulo State, Brazil.
Patients/participants: All inpatients, living in Marília-SP, aged 20 years or more, with a diagnosis of proximal femur fracture (WHO, International Classification of Diseases, 9th.ed., code 820), in the period of January 01, 1994 and December 31, 1995.
Main outcome measures: The incidence rates of the proximal femur fractures in Marília-SP. Secondary Measurements: mean-age of the occurrence (male and female), in-hospital mortality, hospitalar costs to S.U.S. (Government Health System), the average length of hospital stay, seasonality, mean-interval between admission and surgical procedure, type of fracture: transcervical and pertrochanteric, content validity of S.I.H.-S.U.S data base report on proximal femur fractures, when compared with hospital registrations.
Objective: To determine the incidence (crude, age-specific and age-adjusted) of fractures of the proximal femur in Marília-SP, Brazil, in 1994 and 1995.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Results: The crude incidence rate was 4.96/10,000 inhabitants/year in 1994 and 5.51/10,000 inhabitants/year in 1995; the age-specific incidence rate increased from 0.25/10,000 inhabitants 20-49 years/year to 100.27/10,000 inhabitants 70 years or more/year in 1995 among women; the age-adjusted incidence rate was 29.48/10,000 inhabitants 60 years or more/year in 1994, and 35.83/10,000 inhabitants 60 years or more/year in 1995.
Conclusion: The crude incidence rate of the proximal femur fractures in Marília-SP, Brazil was 4.96 / 10,000 inhabitants in 1994 and 5.51/10,000 inhabitants in 1995. It was significantly greater among women (7.2/10,000 inhabitants in 1994 and 8.6/10,000 inhabitants in 1995) and among the elderly, 70 year-old or more (female: 90.21/10,000 inhabitants in 1994 and 100.27/10,000 inhabitants in 1995; male: 25.46/10,000 inhabitants in 1994 and 45.66/10,000 inhabitants in 1995).