RACIAL-DIFFERENCES IN FEMORAL DIMENSIONS AND THEIR RELATION TO HIP FRACTURE

White women have a higher rate of age-specific hip fractures than blac k women. Recently, femoral dimensions have been implicated in osteopor otic fractures. To study racial differences in femoral dimensions, dua l X-ray absorptiometry scans were obtained for two similar groups of 5 0 white women and 50 black women. We measured the hip axis length (the distance from below the lateral aspect of the greater trochanter to t he inner pelvic brim), the neck width and the neck/shaft angle on the scan print-out. The observer was masked to the race of the subject. Th e results were analyzed using the independent t-test and showed that t he hip axis length and the neck width were significantly longer in the white women than in the black women (p values <0.05 and <0.02 respect ively) but that the neck/shaft angle was not statistically different i n the two groups. We conclude that femoral geometry differs among race s. Whether this contributes to the lower risk of hip fracture in black women will require prospectively based studies.