With the increased life expectancy of the Brazilian population, geriatric traumatology has become increasingly important. The sixth cause of death among the elderly population is external causes, just behind cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurologic, respiratory and metabolic diseases. Hip fractures are traumatic injuries that are characteristic of old ages, accounting for 50%, in average, of hospitalizations for trauma in emergency hospitals. It is estimated that 80% of such cases occur in aged people able to walk by themselves and living in communities (1) . The World Health Organization regards proximal femoral fractures as a major public health issue, both in developed and developing countries. In Brazil, no statistical data are available on the costs of these fractures, but, in the United States, 10 billion dollars are spent each year, with 30 billion dollars/ year estimated for the next few years (3) . Of all fractures associated to osteoporosis, those presenting the most significant consequences to quality of life of an indi-
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