§ Mr. GregoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) of 16 May,Official Report, column 250, if he is able to provide any statistical information about cases of osteoporosis among men and women.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyComprehensive statistics on the number of people with osteoporosis are not available.
The best available proxy is the number of hip fractures most of which are in the elderly group and are associated with osteoporosis.
Hip fractures Women Men Total All admissions 1987–88 32,708 9,055 41,763 1988–89 33,371 8,677 42,048 Admissions over 75 1987–88 25,049 4,860 29,909 1988–89 25,722 4,866 30,588 The figures are extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics. They are provisional estimates based on incomplete data and may be subject to revision when analysis has been completed.