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Background and purpose Fractures are most common in youth and in the elderly, with differences in incidence over time and between regions. We present the fracture pattern in a population of youths ≤ 19 years of age, who were seen at Umeå University Hospital, Sweden.

Material and methods All injuries seen at the hospital have been recorded in a database since 1993. The data include variables such as age, sex, date, type of injury, mechanism of injury, and treatment. For the period 1993–2007, there were 10,203 injury events that had resulted in at least 1 fracture.

Results The incidence for the whole period was 201/10⁴ person years. The incidence increased by 13% during the period 1998–2007, when we were able to control for registration errors. The most common fracture site was the distal forearm. The most common type of injury mechanism was falling. The peak incidence occurred at 11–12 years in girls and at 13–14 years in boys, with a male-to-female incidence ratio of 1.5. We found variations in mechanisms and activities at injury with age, and over time.

Interpretation Fractures are caused by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that vary with age. We believe the increase in incidence is partly explained by changes in children's activity patterns over time. Further research may help to identify preventive measures to reduce the number of fractures, in particular those involving hospital care, surgical treatment, and—most importantly—long-term impairment.

Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17453671003628780

Objectives: We present an overview of the injuries seen at the emergency department of a regional hospital in northern Sweden and the variations in the injury pattern with age, sex and time. Methods: Data consisting of all injuries sustained by those 0–19 years of age seen at the emergency department of Umeå University Hospital between 1998 and 2008 (41,330 injury events) were analysed with respect to injury type, mechanism, activity, age and sex. Rates were calculated using population data from Statistics Sweden. Results: The rate of injury related visits to the emergency department was 110/1000 person years. The most common causes of visits to the emergency department were minor injuries such as contusions, abrasions and open wounds. 12% of the injuries resulted in admission to a ward. Variations in type of injury, mechanism and activity at injury were noted, in particular with age, but also with sex. We noted a 31% rate increase of visits to the hospital's emergency department between 1998 and 2008, rate ratio 1.31 (1.27–1.38). There was no significant increase in the rate of injuries resulting in hospitalisation. Conclusions: Our results give an estimate of the rate of all injuries and subsets of injuries resulting in visits to the only hospital emergency department within a well defined catchment area. It was not possible to determine whether the increased rate of visits to the ED was due to an increase in the actual rate of injuries within the catchment area. The variations seen in different age groups reflect the hazards associated with different periods in growth and the ability to cope with these. The results point to areas where improved preventive measures may be implemented or where further research may be of value

Background: Previous work has explored the significance of residence on injuries. A number of articles reported higher rates of injury in rural as compared to urban settings. This study aimed to evaluate the importance of residency on the occurrence of fractures among children and adolescents within a region in northern Sweden.

Methods: In a population based study with data from an injury surveillance registry at a regional hospital, we have investigated the importance of sex, age and place of residency for the incidence of fractures among children and adolescents 0-19 years of age using a Poisson logistic regression analysis. Data was collected between 1998 and 2011.

Results: The dataset included 9,965 cases. Children and adolescents growing up in the most rural communities appeared to sustain fewer fractures than their peers in an urban municipality, risk ratio 0.81 (0.76-0.86). Further comparisons of fracture rates in the urban and rural municipalities revealed that differences were most pronounced for sports related fractures and activities in school in the second decade of life.

Conclusion: Results indicate that fracture incidence among children and adolescents is affected by place of residency. Differences were associated with activity at injury and therefore we have discussed the possibility that this effect was due to the influence of place on activity patterns.

The results suggest it is of interest to explore how geographic and demographic variables affect the injury pattern further.