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Worldwide,
the lifetime risk for an osteoporotic fracture for women is 30 to 40%. For men, this risk
is 13%. As the world’s population ages, incidence rates for osteoporosis continue to
rise. In Europe alone, the number of osteoporotic hip fractures will double in the next 20
years (1). Rising incidence rates will be particularly dramatic in developed countries
because these nations have the highest proportion of older adults. In the U.S., nearly 30%
of individuals suffering a hip fracture are in nursing homes within a year of their
fracture. Twenty percent of individuals with hip fractures are no longer living 1 year
after their fracture (2).1.
International Osteoporosis Foundation. (1998). Report on osteoporosis in the European
community. http://www.connect.ie/effo/sreports.htm
(November 30, 2001).
2. Osteoporosis: Prevention,
Diagnosis, and Therapy. (2000). NIH Consensus Statement on-line 2000 March 27-29;17:1-36. http://consensus.nih.gov/cons/111/111_intro.htm |