Fractures in Children: Epidemiology and Activity-Specific Fracture Rates
- 3 April 2013
- journal article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
- Vol. 95 (7), e42
- https://doi.org/10.2106/jbjs.l.00369
Abstract
Background: Approximately one-third of pediatric fractures occur during sport or recreational activity. In this paper, we investigate the incidence and causes of pediatric fractures in our region and quantify the fracture rate per exposure time for the most common sport and recreational activities. Methods: We prospectively evaluated all children younger than sixteen years who presented to our institution with a new fracture within a twelve-month period. Exposure time to the most common childhood activities was measured by means of interviewing random parents from the study population. The main outcome measures were the annual fracture incidence in the population and fracture rates per 10,000 hours of exposure to various sports and recreational activities. Results: A total of 1403 fractures were included. The overall annual incidence was 180.1 fractures per 10,000 children younger than sixteen years. The distal part of the radius was most often fractured (436 fractures, 31.1%). Snowboarding was associated with the highest activity-specific fracture rate, estimated to be 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16 to 2.60) fractures per 10,000 hours of exposure. In comparison, the fracture rate per 10,000 hours of exposure was 0.79 (CI, 0.42 to 1.09) for handball, 0.44 (CI, 0.35 to 0.52) for soccer, and 0.35 (CI, 0.23 to 0.47) for trampolining. Conclusions: The distal part of the radius is the most common fracture site in childhood. Fracture rates differ between various physical activities. The fracture rate for snowboarding was four times higher compared with that for other common childhood sport and recreational activities in our region. Clinical Relevance: This descriptive epidemiology study has identified high-risk activities for pediatric fractures.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Are there risk factors for snowboard injuries? A case-control multicentre study of 559 snowboardersBritish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2010
- Epidemiology of fractures in children and adolescentsActa Orthopaedica, 2010
- Trampoline-related injuries in childhoodEuropean Journal of Pediatrics, 2008
- Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity From Ages 9 to 15 YearsJAMA, 2008
- Quantifying the risk of sports injury: a systematic review of activity-specific rates for children under 16 years of ageBritish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2007
- The Contribution of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviours to the Growth and Development of Children and AdolescentsSports Medicine, 2007
- Trampoline injuries * CommentaryBritish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2006
- Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999-2004JAMA, 2006
- Evidence Based Physical Activity for School-age YouthThe Journal of Pediatrics, 2005
- Exposure DataSports Medicine, 1997