Court‑Brown and Caesar set out to define the current epidemiology of adult fractures in one defined population.
Retrospective review of all 5953 inpatient and outpatient fractures seen in 2000 at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, sole adult trauma unit for a population of 534,715.
Methods
Data source
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh trauma unit, the sole adult unit for its catchment
Years
2000
Population
Catchment of 534,715
All inpatients and outpatients aged 12 or older
Method
Radiographs reviewed by the authors
Incidence by age and sex
Key Findings
The authors classed 14 fracture types as predominantly osteoporotic, including the distal humerus and femoral shaft, and together these made up 42.4% of all fractures.
Also counting fractures with A, D, G or H curves in patients over 50 raised the potentially osteoporotic share to about 52%.
Under that broader definition, 66.3% of fractures in women were potentially osteoporotic vs 30.1% in men.
Under the same definition, potentially osteoporotic fractures made up 70.4% of inpatient vs 34.7% of outpatient fractures.
Mean age of femoral shaft fracture patients in the same unit rose from 44 years in 1990 to 68 years in 2000.
Femoral shaft, distal femur, proximal tibia, tibial shaft, plafond, talus and calcaneus fractures together made up only 6.6% of all fractures.
Board pearl
The distal radius is the most common adult fracture (17.5%), and the 5 most common types make up 60% of all fractures.
Authors' conclusion
The epidemiology of adult fractures is changing quickly.
Court‑Brown and Caesar set out to define the current epidemiology of adult fractures in one defined population.
Retrospective review of all 5953 inpatient and outpatient fractures seen in 2000 at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, sole adult trauma unit for a population of 534,715.
Methods
Data source
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh trauma unit, the sole adult unit for its catchment
Years
2000
Population
Catchment of 534,715
All inpatients and outpatients aged 12 or older
Method
Radiographs reviewed by the authors
Incidence by age and sex
Key Findings
The authors classed 14 fracture types as predominantly osteoporotic, including the distal humerus and femoral shaft, and together these made up 42.4% of all fractures.
Also counting fractures with A, D, G or H curves in patients over 50 raised the potentially osteoporotic share to about 52%.
Under that broader definition, 66.3% of fractures in women were potentially osteoporotic vs 30.1% in men.
Under the same definition, potentially osteoporotic fractures made up 70.4% of inpatient vs 34.7% of outpatient fractures.
Mean age of femoral shaft fracture patients in the same unit rose from 44 years in 1990 to 68 years in 2000.
Femoral shaft, distal femur, proximal tibia, tibial shaft, plafond, talus and calcaneus fractures together made up only 6.6% of all fractures.
Board pearl
The distal radius is the most common adult fracture (17.5%), and the 5 most common types make up 60% of all fractures.
Authors' conclusion
The epidemiology of adult fractures is changing quickly.