Ethnic Differences between Asians and Caucasians in the Incidence of Osteoporotic Fractures : A Review

The aim of this mini-review was to address the question of whether there are differences between Asian and Caucasian women in the incidence of osteoporotic fractures. The online PubMed web site was used to search for papers on epidemiologic studies designed to compare ethnic differences between Asians and Caucasians in osteoporotic fractures, and nine original papers regarding this issue were retrieved. There is a body of evidence that the incidence of hip fractures in Asians, including Japanese, is lower than in Caucasians. By contrast, no Asian-Caucasian difference in incidence of vertebral fractures has been found, although Japanese living in Japan seem to have a higher incidence of vertebral fractures than Caucasians. More epidemiologic studies comparing vertebral fractures in Asians and Caucasians are needed.