Colles' fracture as an indicator of increased risk of hip fracture. An epidemiological study.

The relative value of previous Colles' fracture and previous fractures of any other type as an indicator of likelihood of sustaining a subsequent hip fracture was investigated. The frequency of hip fractures was no higher in a group of 242 women and 20 men who had a past history of radius shaft or Colles' fracture than it was in 412 women and 112 men with a history of previous fractures of other types. Only in women, and only up to the age of 62, was the prevalence of previous Colles' fracture higher among hip fracture patients than in the general population. The prevalence of previous fractures of other types among hip fracture patients, however, was higher in women until the age of 70 and in men until the age of 80 than in the general population.