GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS IN SENILE OSTEOPOROSIS: The Association with Physical Activity
01 Nov 1970-Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-british Volume (J Bone Joint Surg Br)-Vol. 52, Iss: 4, pp 667-675
TL;DR: Using the incidence of hip fracture as an indication of senile osteoporosis, the occurrence of this disease was found to vary greatly in different racial groups as mentioned in this paper, with the highest reported incidence in Sweden, followed by Britain, Hong Kong Chinese, Singapore Chinese and South African Bantu, in that order.
Abstract: 1. Using the incidence of hip fracture as an indication of senile osteoporosis, the occurrence of this disease is found to vary greatly in different racial groups. The highest reported incidence is in Sweden, followed by Britain, Hong Kong Chinese, Singapore Chinese and South African Bantu, in that order. Likewise, the sex incidence varies, women outnumbering men in Sweden and Britain, men exceeding women in Singapore; an equal sex incidence is found in Hong Kong. 2. In all races and in both sexes the incidence is more closely related to age than any other factor, a progressive increase being noted after forty-five. Ageing is clearly the dominant etiological factor, but this does not explain the different racial incidence. These differences cannot be attributed to hormonal state or to the dietary intake of calcium, but do accord in general with the living standards of the different countries and the degree of physical activity undertaken by the different populations and sexes. 3. Hereditary factors may play a part, but further geographical study of the incidence of senile osteoporosis is necessary before the relative importance of inheritance and environment can be assessed.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors applied available incidence rates for hip fracture from various parts of the world to projected populations in 1990, 2025 and 2050 in order to estimate the numbers of hip fractures which might occur in each of the major continental regions.
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