Incidence of Proximal Femur Fractures in Relation to Seasons of the Year and Weather

Abstract

PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe opinion that proximal femur fractures occur mainly in the winter season and are related to slippery surfaces pre vails in both the lay and medical communities. The elucidation of this relationship would lead to a better understanding of the aetiology of these fractures and may help to prevent them in the elderly population. MATERIAL AND METHODSIn a retrospective study conducted at two departments, the occurrence of proximal femur fractures in patients 60+ years old in relation to weather conditions (air temperature and its humidity, atmospheric pressure, rain and mist) between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2005 was investigated. Patients with high-energy or pathological fractures were excluded. The results were evaluated by Statistika software. RESULTSA total of 1720 patients were studied, of whom 1313 were women and 407 were men. The numbers of fractures did not differ significantly among either the seasons or months of the year. No correlation was found between the number of fractures and each of the weather characteristics (air temperature and its humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and visibility). DISCUSSIONIt is widely believed that hip fractures are connected with winter months and temperatures below zero. This is supported by several facts related to winter characteristics, such as slippery icy pavements, clumsiness due to warm bulky clothes, bodies affected by cold and thus predisposed to a fall and poorer visibility on shorter winter days.The effect of seasonal variation on hip fracture incidence has been investigated in 10 studies of which only one has taken the influence of daily temperature into consideration. All studies were conduced in the countries north of 40° latitude, i.e., in climatic conditions similar to our country, with temperatures falling below zero and ice-glazed pavements in winter months. Of them, six have found no relation between proximal femur fractures and weather conditions, two have reported an increased incidence of these fractures in winter months and two in summer months. CONCLUSIONSOur study did not show any significant relationship between the incidence of proximal femur fractures and weather characteristics. Seasons of the year had no effect on the number of hip fractures or the length of hospital stay due to their treat ment.