Although some reports suggest that osteoporosis occurs with increasing incidence among rheumatoid arthritic (RA) patients compared with the normal population, there are few reports concerning the incidence of fractures in RA patients. We studied the records of 1059 adult RA patients who visited at our department in the 27-year period, from 1965 to 1991. There were 822 females and 237 males with the age at first visit ranging from 20 to 86 years (average, 48.9 years). Eleven patients sustained seventeen extremity fractures from minor trauma. Patients were all females and three of them were using steroids. At the time of fracture, most patients were aged between fifty and seventy years and the disease duration exceeded ten years. Six fractures occurred in the upper extremity and eleven in the lower extremity, including six hip fractures. Fracture incidence was 1.34% in female patients and 0% in male patients. Six patients were in stage 4 and class 3 at the time of first fracture. Four patients were analyzed for bone mass of left distal radius and the mean value of this was lower than that for age-matched controls. Fracture incidence in patients taking steroids was higher (2.91%) than in those without steroids (1.31%). Concerning the fractured patients, mean age was younger in the steroid group than in non-steroid group.
