Epidemiological survey on adult tibial shaft fractures in the east coast and west inland areas in China from 2010 through 2011

Abstract

Objective To compare epidemiological characteristics of adult tibial shaft fractures between the east coast and west inland areas in China from 2010 through 2011. Methods Four hospitals in the east coast area (group A) and 4 hospitals in the west inland area (group B) were selected. The data of adult tibial shaft fractures treated between January 2010 and December 2011 at the 8 hospitals were collected through the PACS system and medical records inquiry system. The data were assigned into 3 age groups: young group (from 16 to 45 years), middle-aged group (from 46 to 65 years) and elderly group (above 65 years). Analytic items included gender, age, fractures in each age group and distribution of AO classification. Comparisons were made between groups A and B. Results There were 1,136 adult tibial shaft fractures in group A and 1,180 adult tibial shaft fractures in group B, accounting for 20.87% (1,136/5,443) and 26.07%(1,180/4,527) of the adult tibiofibular fractures in groups A and B respectively, and 2.98%(1,136/38,060) and 3.62% (1,180/32,623) of all the adult fractures in groups A and B respectively. The male to female ratio was 2.41∶1 (803/333) in group A and 4.20∶1 (953/227) in group B. The average age was 44.0±15.5 years in group A and 36.0±13.1 years in group B. The young group had the highest constituent ratio in both groups A and B (55.90% versus 79.24%), showing significant difference between the 2 groups (P< 0.001). The differences regarding the constituent ratios of other age groups were also statistically significant between groups A and B (P< 0.001). The highest proportion of the fractures was AO type 42-A in both groups A and B, with 48.06% (546/1,136) in group A and 43.73% (516/1180) in group B re-spectively, showing a significant difference between groups A and B (P< 0.001). Conclusions The adult tibial shaft fractures accounted for 20.87% and 26.07% of the adult tibiofibular fractures and 2.98% and 3.62% of all the adult fractures in the east coast and the west inland areas respectively. The proportion of women patients, average age, proportions of the middle-aged and elderly patients, proportion of AO type 42-A in the east coast were higher than those in the west inland. Key words: Tibial fractures; Epidemiologic studies; Small-area analysis; Gender distribution; Age Distribution