National registration of hip fractures

Parker rightly points out the basic prerequisites and problems in performing a successful audit (registration). The possibility of performing national registration does, however, appear to differ between different countries in Europe. Most of the problems have been overcome in Scandinavia, and the solutions may be of some help in starting registers elsewhere. In Sweden, after the start in 1975 with the Knee Arthroplasty Register, followed by the Total Hip Arthroplasty Register in 1979 and the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group Register in 1986, the interest from other disciplines mainly started in the early 1990s—with several registers such as the Swedish Heart Surgery Register in 1992, the Swedish National Cataract Register in 1992, Riksstroke in 1994, and the registry on Cardiac Intensive Care in 1995. Now Sweden has 56 national registers; after application on an annual basis, they receive financial support from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions together with the National Board of Health and Welfare. Several other registers are currently trying to obtain financial support.