Economic implications of osteoporosis-related femoral fractures in Saudi Arabian society

Purpose To assess the prevalence of proximal femoral fractures due to osteopenia and osteoporosis in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia and to estimate the cost of management of osteoporosis-related femoral fractures. Methods This is a retrospective study of all patients admitted to the orthopaedic department of the King Fahd Hospital of the University, AlKhobar between January 2001 and December 2006. There were 63 patients admitted to the hospital with osteoporosis-related fractures and 43 sustained proximal femoral fractures. The cost of management of these patients from admission to discharge was analyzed. A verbal survey was carried with all the hospitals in the eastern province to establish the prevalence of osteoporosis-related femoral fractures for a 12 month period. Results There were 23 male and 20 female patients with average age of 72.11 years and the hospital stay was for 760 days. The cost of managing these patients was SR2.09 million (US$557,333.00) at the rate of SR48,712 (US$12,989.90) per patient. The survey of all hospitals in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia showed that 984 proximal femoral fractures occurred in a population of 164,121. The estimated cost was SR48 million (US$12.78 million) annually. On a national basis, with a population of 1,461,401 Saudis aged 50 years or more, 8,768 would suffer femoral fractures yearly at a cost of SR4.27 billion (US$1.14 billion). Conclusion This study raises serious economic concerns. The annual cost of management of osteoporosis-related proximal femoral fractures in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia is US$12.78 million. As the Saudi Arabian population is aging and the number of elderly patients is bound to increase, with an accompanying increase in fractures, the impact on health care budgets will be tremendous.