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Three hundred thirty-two laborers in a shipyard, all of whom had been working for decades in heavy industry, were compared with regard to the occurrence of coxarthrosis with a similar sized group of white-collar workers and with a random population sample. All three sets of men were of the same age. About one-fourth (the same in all three groups) had been referred for a hip roentgenographic examination at some time over the previous decades. In the group of laborers and their white-collar controls, coxarthrosis occurred in about 3%, with no difference between the two samples. The occurrence was less, but not significantly less, in those men who had been randomly selected from the population.

In a survey of 4027 double-contrast colon roentgenograms, the hip joints were examined and classified with regard to the presence or absence of primary coxarthrosis. The hips were graded according to type and severity of coxarthrosis. The data collection was performed in precisely the same manner as in an earlier study undertaken on 3903 similar examinations that had been performed more than 20 years earlier. During this time period, the prevalence had not changed, nor was there any change in sex ratio or distribution between bilateral and unilateral cases or between types of coxarthrosis. Also, the severity of the coxarthrosis at the time of the examination was approximately the same. A considerable portion of the patients (including those in the present study), about one third, had not been previously diagnosed. In this group, mixed and medial coxarthrosis were more common among men than was lateral coxarthrosis. There was no difference in age or sex between previously diagnosed and undiagnosed groups of coxarthrosis. In the recent study, about one third of the patients had been treated mostly by total hip arthroplasty (THA). In these patients, lateral coxarthrosis was more common. Women were over-represented among the THA cases, even though the coxarthrosis was not more severe.