Abstract
Aims
The aim of this study was to statistically analyse the incidence and distribution of forearm fractures in the adult age group (3rd–10th Decades) between 1997 and 2009.
Methods
Records of patients with forearm fractures were retrieved from the hospital audit department using the predetermined codes to identify patients. The data included total number of patients between 20 and 100 years who were either reviewed in the fracture clinics or admitted to the hospital with forearm fractures along with patient gender, age at the time of incident and time of the year the incident occurred. Incidence of total fractures per year and per each month in the year was calculated. The patients were divided into age groups between 2nd to 10th decades. Linear regression analysis was carried out to identify the relationship between fracture incidence and the age or time of the injury. Correlation coefficients(R) and r2 were calculated for all the regression analyses. Fractures were also classified according to the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) classification system. SPSS (version 16) and Microsoft Excel 2007 were used for statistics.
Results
A total of 1815 fractures were identified that included 573 males and 1242 females (F/M=2.17). The average age of patients was 59.8 years. Comparing the different months of the year for fracture incidence, the incidence of fractures was found to be highest in september per year. There was a linear increase in the incidence of fractures from January to September (R=0.9, r2=0.81) followed by a drop in subsequent months. There was a linear increase in the incidence of fractures per year from 70 in 1997 to 200 in 2009 (R=0.94, r2=0.885). Comparing the slopes of linear equations for males and females, the rate of increase in fractures in females was found to be approximately 3 times that of males. In women, There was a linear increase in the fracture incidence from the 3rd decade to the 9th decade (R=0.91, r2=0.84) followed by a sudden drop in the 10th decade. In men, there was a linear decrease in the fracture incidence from the 3rd to the 9th decade (r2=0.9559, R=0.98). 177 fractures were classified according to the OTA classification. OTA 23 type of fractures accounted for 85.3% percent of the forearm fractures followed by OTA 21 type (11.9%) and 22 type (2.8%). Further analysis showed the distribution to be: 23A-43.7%, 23B-9.9%, 23C-46.4%.
Conclusion
In the last 13 years, there has been an increase in the total incidence of forearm fractures in both men and women; however, the rate of increase in women is almost 3 times that of men. With increasing age, the incidence of fracture increases in women and decreases in men. The drop in fractures in women the 10th decade can be attributed to a reduced living population after 90 years. The obtained linear equations can be useful in predicting the number of forearm fractures occurring in a certain age group in community.
