Epidemiology of hip fracture in Iraq and development of a country-specific FRAX model

Summary

Hip fracture data were retrieved from the Iraqi government’s Ministry of Health and the Kurdistan region’s Ministry of Health for the years 2022–2023 and used to create a FRAX® model to facilitate fracture risk assessment. Hip fracture rates and probabilities were compared with estimates from neighboring countries.

Introduction

There are no published data on the epidemiology of osteoporotic fractures in Iraq. This paper describes the epidemiology of femoral fractures in Iraq and the development of the corresponding country-specific FRAX® tool for the prediction of fractures.

Methods

Femoral fracture data (ICD-10 S72) were retrieved from the Iraqi government’s Ministry of Health and the Kurdistan region’s Ministry of Health for the years 2022–2023 in Iraq. The age- and sex-specific incidence of hip fracture in Iraqi residents and national mortality rates were used to create a FRAX® model. Fracture probabilities were compared with those from neighboring countries having existing FRAX models.

Results

Fracture rates were low and comparable to those in neighboring countries, with hip fracture rates closest to estimates from Saudi Arabia at older ages. Ten-year fracture probabilities were lower in males than in females and were comparable to those in neighboring countries.

Conclusion

The FRAX model should enhance the accuracy of determining fracture probability among the Iraqi population and help guide treatment decisions.