Falls explain between-center differences in the incidence of limb XXXX across Europe.

@entity3604 @entity1 @entity174 @entity998 @entity3140
There is important geographic variation in the occurrence of the major @entity3604 across Europe. The aim of this study was to determine whether between-center variation in limb @entity174 rates across Europe could be explained by variation in the incidence of @entity998 . @entity1 and @entity1 , aged 50-79 years, were recruited from population-based registers in 30 European centers. Subjects were followed by postal questionnaire to ascertain the occurrence of incident @entity174 , and were also asked about the occurrence and number of recent @entity998 . Self-reported @entity174 were confirmed, where possible, by review of the radiographs, medical record, or subject interview. The age- and gender-adjusted incidence of @entity998 was calculated by center using Poisson regression. Poisson regression was also used to assess the extent to which between-center differences in the incidence of limb @entity174 could be explained by differences in the age- and gender-adjusted incidence of @entity998 at those centers. In all, 6302 @entity1 (mean age 63.9 years) and 6761 @entity1 (mean age 63.1 years) completed at least one questionnaire concerning @entity174 and @entity998 . During a median follow-up time of 3 years, 3647 @entity998 were reported by @entity1 and 4783 by @entity1 . After adjusting for age and gender, there was evidence of significant between-center differences in the occurrence of @entity998 . There was also between-center variation in the occurrence of @entity3140 , lower limb, and @entity174 . Variation in the age- and gender-adjusted center-specific fall rates explained 24%, 14%, and 6% of the between-center variation in incidence of distal forearm and upper and @entity174 , respectively. Given the constraints inherent in such an analysis, in @entity1 and @entity1 aged 50-79 years, variation in fall rates could explain a significant proportion of the between-center variation in the incidence of limb @entity174 across Europe.
