Children's fractures: a population based study

Objective—To measure the incidence of childhood fractures in a defined population. Setting—Accident and emergency (A&E) departments covering the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas of South Wales in 1996. Methods—Linkage of data from A&E departments with population data to produce fracture i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Injury prevention 1999-06, Vol.5 (2), p.129-132
Main Authors: Lyons, Ronan A, Delahunty, Annie M, Kraus, Debbie, Heaven, Martin, McCabe, Mike, Allen, Howard, Nash, Pam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age Distribution
Age groups
Bone and Bones - injuries
Child
Child, Preschool
Children
Departments
Emergency medical care
epidemiology
Female
Fractures
Fractures, Bone - classification
Fractures, Bone - epidemiology
Fractures, Bone - etiology
Fractures, Bone - prevention & control
Humans
Incidence
Injuries
Male
Original
Parks & recreation areas
Population Surveillance
Registries
Rib cage
Risk Factors
Sex Distribution
Surveillance
Traffic accidents & safety
United Kingdom - epidemiology
Wales - epidemiology
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Summary:Objective—To measure the incidence of childhood fractures in a defined population. Setting—Accident and emergency (A&E) departments covering the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas of South Wales in 1996. Methods—Linkage of data from A&E departments with population data to produce fracture incidence rates by anatomical site and cause in children aged 0–14 years. Results—During 1996, 2463 new fractures occurred in 2399 residents yielding a fracture rate of 36.1/1000 children. Fractures were more common in boys than girls and increased with age in both groups. Sports and leisure activities accounted for 36% of fractures, assaults for 3.5%, and road traffic accidents 1.4%. Fractures of the radius/ulna were most frequent (36%). Conclusions—The fracture rate in South Wales children is twice the rate reported in previous studies. Further research is required to elucidate the reasons behind this high rate. Many fractures could be prevented by the use of safer surfaces in school playgrounds, and wrist protection in in-line skaters and possibly in soccer players.
ISSN:1353-8047
1475-5785
DOI:10.1136/ip.5.2.129