In a series of 57 hemiplegic patients who subsequently fractured their hips, it was found that hip fracture occurred significantly more often on the hemiplegic side. Hip fracture was equally common in right- and left-sided hemiplegia, and often occurred within one year of the stroke. Two factors seem to be important in the genesis of hip fractures in hemiplegic patients: the tendency of stroke patients to fall to the affected side as a result of impaired locomotor function, and the development of disuse osteoporosis in the hemiplegic limb.