Takeaway
- A fracture in childhood is associated with increased risk for future fractures compared with children who never experienced a break.
Why this matters
- Childhood fracture rates are on the rise.
- Secondary prevention measures to promote bone health might be considered in some children, especially those with multiple fracture history or multiple risk factors.
Key results
- Children who had a fracture at baseline had 60% increased rate of later fractures: adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.60 (95% CI, 1.46-1.75; P<.0001).
- 23.0% of children who had a fracture at baseline had 1 or more fractures in the 7 subsequent years, compared with 11.3% of children with no initial fracture.
- Boys were more prone than girls to later fractures after an initial event, with the difference peaking at about age 12 years.
Study design
- Population-based, retrospective database study covering about 2.5 million healthy children aged 0-15 yearsliving in Ontario, Canada, from April 2003 to March 2004, followed for 7 years.
- Funding: None disclosed.
Limitations
- Not a complete birth cohort.
- Database limitations apply, including the possibility of coding variations.
References
References