Increased
risk of osteoporotic fractures in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients
compared with general population has been reported. The purpose of this
study was to assess the risk of osteoporotic and other low-energy
fractures in an MS cohort from a large hospital district in southwest
Finland. Age-adjusted total and gender-specific prevalence for definite
MS per 100 000 in a population of 472 139 was calculated as a point
prevalence in December 31, 2012.

Patients
with MS and comorbid fractures were identified by searching for ICD-9
and ICD-10 codes during a period from 2004 to 2012 from hospital
administrative data in Turku University Hospital (TYKS) in southwest
Finland Case ascertainment was performed by review of medical records.
Osteoporotic fracture was defined as a low-energy fracture of the
pelvis, hip, femur, tibia, humerus, collar bone, ulna/radius, vertebrae,
or rib. The control population was a 10-fold age- and gender-matched
population.

The point prevalence (N 1004) of MS was 212.6/10⁵
(CI 199.5–225.8) in December 31, 2012. A total of 100 (9.9%) of 1004
confirmed MS cases experienced at least one fracture during the study
period. Relative risks (RRs) for all fractures (1.33, 95% CI 1.10–1.60)
and osteoporotic fractures (1.50, 95% CI 1.18–1.90) were significantly
increased in patients with MS compared with controls. In particular, RRs
for hip fractures (5.00, 95% CI 2.96–8.43) and fractures of humerus
(2.36, 95% CI 1.32–4.42) were elevated in patients with MS vs controls.

We
observed high prevalence of MS in southwest Finland and confirmed
increased age-adjusted comorbid risk for osteoporotic fractures and
other low-energy fractures compared with individually matched controls.