Epidemiological investigation of femoral shaft fractures in Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan from 2010 through 2011

Abstract

Objective To investigate the epidemiological features of femoral shaft fractures in Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan from 2010 through 2011. Methods Cluster random sampling methods were used to choose 8 hospitals from Beijing (group A), Tianjin (group B) and Tangshan (group C). The data of adult fractures treated between January 2010 and December 2011 in these hospitals were collected through the PACS system and X-ray films. After adult femoral shaft fractures were selected, they were divided into 3 age groups (young group, middle-aged group, and elderly group). Analytic items included gender, age and AO classification. The epidemiological characteristics of adult femoral shaft fractures were analyzed and compared among the 3 different regional groups. Results A total of 1,455 adult femoral shaft fractures were selected with a male to female ratio of 3.77: 1, accounting for 17.13% (1, 455 /8, 495) of the adult femoral fractures and 2.72% (1, 455/53, 462) of all the adult fractures. Age distribution showed that the peak age of femoral shaft fractures ranged from 16 to 45 years (64.47%). AO type 32-A was the most common, accounting for 49.28% of all the femoral shaft fractures. There were 88 femoral shaft fractures in group A, 235 in group B, and 1, 132 in group C. The peak age of femoral shaft fractures ranged from 16 to 45 years in all the 3 groups (59.09% in group A, 51.49% in group B and 67.58% in group C). The male to female ratio was 4.93:1 in group C, significantly higher than in group A (2.52: 1) and group B (1.64: 1) (P < 0.05). Type 32-A was the most common in all the 3 groups, but its proportion in group A (71.59%) was significantly higher than in group B (52.34%) and group C (46.91%) (P < 0.05). Conclusions Adult femoral shaft fractures in Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan accounted for 17.13% of the adult femoral fractures and 2.72% of all the adult fractures from 2010 through 2011. They were more common in males than in females. They prevailed in young people. The most common fracture type was AO type 32-A. There were regional differences. The male to female ratio was the highest in Tangshan and the proportion of type 32-A was the highest in Beijing. Key words: Femoral fractures; Epidemiology; Adult; Multicenter studies