The incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture was studied previously in a central area of Argentina. Studying Tucuman (north area) was very useful to compare results of the different areas and detect a similar incidence in women and a slightly higher incidence in men compared with previous data for the central region.

Epidemiology of hip fracture was studied over a 1-year period in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán (SMT) and in the whole province of Tucumán, located in the northeast of Argentina (latitudes 26° and 28° south). The results were compared with previous studies performed in the central region of Argentina.

Two hundred and eighty-three patients (208 women and 75 men) aged 50 years or over in SMT suffered a hip fracture. The incidence in females and males was 334.9 and 163.8 hip fractures per 100,000 inhabitants per year, respectively (female/male ratio 2.0). A total of 498 hip fractures were recorded in Tucuman province (367 in women and 131 in men). The results in females and males were 276.5 and 114.7 hip fractures per 100,000 inhabitants per year, respectively. Average age of the female and male population was 78 ± 9 and 77 ± 9 years, respectively.

These results showed that the incidence of hip fracture in female and male populations in SMT was similar to previous studies performed in the central area of the country. Further studies on the south area of Argentina should be conducted to complete the information on a large country extending from latitudes 22° to 55°S.