In two projects we have studied patients presenting to Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments with a fracture, to examine how their age influences their likelihood of admission. Over 1 year from April 1994 we collected data on all 6467 Cardiff residents who presented to the city's A&E department with a fracture. In total 1226 (19%) were admitted. Overall, only 12% of those under 65, but 47% of older patients required admission. This was largely a reflection of the age-distribution of hip fracture, an injury for which admission is inevitable. In a subsequent study of eight A&E departments in South Wales we therefore considered the proportion of patients admitted following fractures at specific anatomical sites. In people over the age of 55 we identified 6889 fractures, 2115 (31%) of which led to admission. After standardisation to control for the age-distribution of incidence for different fracture sites, we found that the likelihood of admission was 22% greater for people aged over 65 years. Elderly people very often require hospital admission after a fracture, primarily as a consequence of the types of fractures that they tend to sustain. Admissions directly attributable to the effects of age and age-related medical, psychiatric and social comorbidity appear of more limited significance.