• Pekka Kannus, Seppo Niemi, Harri Sievänen, and Jari Parkkari.
• Injury and Osteoporosis Research Center, UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Tampere, Finland.
• J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2017 Oct 1; 72 (10): 1390-1393.

BackgroundLow-trauma fractures of elderly women are a major public health concern.MethodsWe determined the current trend in the absolute number and incidence (per 100,000 persons) of fresh low-trauma fractures of the proximal humerus among 80-year-old or older Finnish women by taking into account all women who were admitted to Finnish hospitals for primary treatment of such a fracture between 1970 and 2015.ResultsThe number of low-trauma fractures of the proximal humerus among 80-year-old or older Finnish women rose continuously between 1970 (32 fractures) and 2015 (568 fractures), whereas the age-adjusted fracture rate (showing a clear rise from 87 fractures per 100,000 persons in 1970 to 304 fractures in 1995) became stabilized between 1995 and 2015 (297 fractures per 100,000 persons in 2015).ConclusionsThe clear rise in the incidence of low-trauma proximal humeral fractures in Finnish elderly women from early 1970s until mid 1990s has been followed by stabilized fracture rates. Reasons for this are largely unknown, but a cohort effect toward a healthier aging population with improved functional ability, as well as measures to prevent falls and alleviate fall severity, could partly explain the phenomenon.© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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