Objective To study the epidemiological characteristics of the hip fractures of the inpatients so as to provide a scientific basis for strategic study on the prevention and treatment of the hip fractures. Methods The study involved 448 patients （217 males and 231 females） with hip fractures admitted to the Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University from January 2004 to December 2009. The characteristics, injury time and causes, fracture types and treatment approaches were collected and reviewed retrospectively. SPSS 13.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results There were significant differences in distribution of the hip fractures in terms of age, cause, gender and treatment approach （P 〈 0.05 ）. Patients with age ≥60 years accounted for 68.8%. Slip was the leading cause of the hip fracture （ 69.6% ）. As for gender distribution, femoral neck fractures usually occurred in the females while intertrochanteric hip fractures in the males. Surgery was the predominant management approaches,accounting for 83.1%. Conclusion The distribution of the hip fractures of the inpatients has unique characteristics in aspects of individual character, injury cause injury site and treatment approach, which is worthy of further strategic study on prevention and treatment of the hip fractures.