A decrease in the number and incidence of osteoporotic hip fractures among elderly individuals in Niigata, Japan, from 2010 to 2015

We investigated the incidence of hip fracture in patients aged ≥50 years in 2015 in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. We also determined the long-term trend in hip fracture incidence from 1985 to 2015. In 2015, 3214 hip fractures occurred in Niigata Prefecture. The crude incidence rate of hip fracture was 282.7 per 100,000 persons per year (122.9 in men and 416.4 in women). The incidence of hip fracture decreased from 2010 to 2015 in all age groups except in men aged 65–69 years and women aged 60–64 years. The percentage of patients who took anti-osteoporotic medication before their hip fractures increased from 10.2% in 2010 to 14.9% in 2015. The age-specific incidence in women tended to increase until 2010, but significantly decreased from 2010 to 2015 (p < 0.001). Similarly, the incidence in men decreased from 2010 to 2015 but was not significantly different from that in 1994 (p = 0.633); this incidence had been increasing since 1999. In conclusion, a generally increasing trend was observed in the incidence of hip fractures for 30 years in both men and women in Niigata Prefecture; however, it turned into a descending trend beginning in 2010.