Epidemiological investigation of clavicle fractures in The Third Affiliated Hospital to Hebei Medical University from 2003 to 2012

Abstract

Objective To investigate the epidemiological features and trends of the clavicle fractures from 2003 through 2012 in our hospital. Methods The data of human and clavicle fractures treated between January 2003 and December 2012 at our hospital were collected through the PACS system and case reports checking system. The patients' gender, age and fracture type were analyzed. The data of clavicle fractures from January 2003 to December 2007 were assigned into group A and those from January 2008 to December 2012 into group B. The 2 groups were compared to find out the general epidemiological characteristics and trends in the recent 10 years. Results A total of 3, 516 clavicle fractures were included, accounting for 2.78% of the human fractures (3, 516/126, 479). The male/female ratio was 2.40:1. There were 949 pediatric (<16 years) fractures (26.99%) and 2, 567 adult fractures (73.01%), accounting for 2.38% fo the adult human fractures(2, 567/107, 648). The predominant adult fracture type was 15-B, accounting for 78.18% (2, 007/2, 567). There were 1, 404 and 2,112 clavicle fractures respectively in groups A and B, accounting for respectively 2.15% (1, 404/65, 267) and 3.45% (2, 112/61, 212) of the contemporary human fractures, giving a male/female ratio respectively of 2.73: 1 and 2.21:1, and predominating respectively in an age group of 41 to 50 years and an age group of 0 to 10 years. There were significant differences between groups A and B in gender and age (P < 0.05). There were 1, 104 and 1, 463 adult clavicle fractures respectively in groups A and B. Comparisons between groups A and B showed that the proportion of adult clavicle fractures in the contemporary human fractures increased significantly from 1.99% (1, 104/555, 423) to 2.80% (1, 463/52, 225), the male/female ratio significantly decreased from 3.15:1 to 2.62:1, and the proportion of predominant type 15-B significantly decreased from 83.70% to 74.03% (P < 0.05). Conclusions In the decade from 2003 through 2012 in our hospital, the clavicle fractures accounted for 2.78% and the adult ones for 2.38% of the total human fractures. Compared with the first 5 years, the second 5 years witnessed an increase from 1.99% to 2.80% in the constituent ratio of clavicle fractures to the total human fractures, and a decrease in the constituent ratio of type 15-B. Although the constituent ratio of male patients showed a trend of decrease, more male adults suffered from clavicle fracture than female ones. Key words: Shoulder fractures; Epidemiology; Gender distribution; Age distribution