Epidemiology

Abstract

The distal radius fracture is one of the most common fractures in humans. It is the leading cause of attendance to the orthopaedic emergency departments in the world. Distal radius fractures account for 25–30 % of fractures in children and around 18 % of all adult fractures. The two major risk groups are the skeletally immature children/adolescents and the osteoporotic elderly. Around 60 % of the paediatric fractures occur in boys, while around 70 % of the adult fractures occur in women, depicting a bimodal distribution in young males and older females, as seen in many other common fractures. Most fractures result from low-energy trauma, but sports and leisure activities account for the vast majority of the fractures in the younger population. In cold climates, there is an apparent seasonal variation with the highest incidence of fractures during the winter months, largely due to icy ground conditions. The overall incidence of distal radius fractures in the developed world seems to have reached a plateau in the last two decades after a steep rise between the 1950s and the 1980s. The reason for this recent plateau is unknown and probably multifactorial. Furthermore, incidence in younger postmenopausal women seems to be declining of recent, perhaps due to prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.