Context Hip fractures are a public health concern because they are associated with significant morbidity, excess mortality, and the majority of the costs directly attributable to osteoporosis. Objective To examine trends in hip fracture rates in Canada. Design, Setting, and Patients Ecologic trend study using nationwide hospitalization data for 1985 to 2005 from a database at the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Data for all patients with a hospitalization for which the primary reason was a hip fracture (570 872 hospitalizations) were analyzed. Main Outcome Measures Age-specific and age-standardized hip fracture rates. Results There was a decrease in age-specific hip fracture rates (all P for trend Ͻ.001). Over the 21-year period of the study, age-adjusted hip fracture rates decreased by 31.8% in females (from 118.6 to 80.9 fractures per 100 000 person-years) and by 25.0% in males (from 68.2 to 51.1 fractures per 100 000 person-years). Joinpoint regression analysis identified a change in the linear slope around 1996. For the overall population, the average age-adjusted annual percentage decrease in hip fracture rates was 1.2% (95% confidence interval, 1.0%-1.3%) per year from 1985 to 1996 and 2.4% (95% confidence interval, 2.1%-2.6%) per year from 1996 to 2005 (PϽ.001 for difference in slopes). Similar changes were seen in both females and males with greater slope reductions after 1996 (PϽ.001 for difference in slopes for each sex). Conclusions Age-standardized rates of hip fracture have steadily declined in Canada since 1985 and more rapidly during the later study period. The factors primarily responsible for the earlier reduction in hip fractures are unknown.

The objective of this evidence review was to synthesize the literature on the effectiveness and safety of nutritional and ultraviolet radiation sources of vitamin D with respect to bone health outcomes at all stages of life. The goals were to identify knowledge gaps for the research community and to highlight areas that required further research. We completed an extensive literature search of multiple databases and a multilevel selection process with synthesis of results from 167 included studies. We included a variety of outcomes (eg, falls, bone mineral density, fractures, and adverse events). This report provides an overview of the methods and a summary of the key findings. In addition, we discuss areas where the evidence is inconclusive, as well as methodologic issues that we encountered. We found inconsistent evidence of an association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and bone mineral content in infants and fair evidence of an association with bone mineral content or density in older children and older adults. The evidence of an association between serum 25(OH)D concentration and some clinical outcomes (fractures, performance measures) in postmenopausal women and older men was inconsistent, and the evidence of an association with falls was fair. We found good evidence of a positive effect of consuming vitamin D-fortified foods on 25(OH)D concentrations. The evidence for a benefit of vitamin D on falls and fractures varied. We found fair evidence that adults tolerated vitamin D at doses above current dietary reference intake levels, but we had no data on the association between long-term harms and higher doses of vitamin D.Am J Clin Nutr 2008;88(suppl):513S-9S.