The incidence of scaphoid fracture in a military population.
BACKGROUND
The rate of occurrence of scaphoid injury is not well known. The incidence of scaphoid fracture has been described mostly in small, injured cohort populations, which may underestimate its frequency. We studied the epidemiology of the scaphoid fracture using a large database in a military population.


METHODS
The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED), a comprehensive database which tracks medical care for all four military services of the United States, was queried for the first occurrence of scaphoid fractures using International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 code 814.01. Data were evaluated using multivariate Poisson analysis, controlling for co-variate factors.


RESULTS
We noted 14,704 scaphoid fractures in a population at a risk of 12,117,749 person-years. The unadjusted incidence of scaphoid fracture was 1.21/1000 person-years. Males were significantly more likely to sustain scaphoid fractures, with an adjusted rate ratio (RR) of 1.55 (95% confidence interval (C.I.), 1.47, 1.64), compared to females. The 20-24-year-old age group had the highest incidence of scaphoid fracture at 1.64/1000 person-years, and showed a significantly higher RR compared to the population aged greater than 40 years (adjusted RR 1.55, 95% C.I., 1.38, 1.66). Whites sustained scaphoid fractures at a significantly higher rate than African Americans (adjusted RR 1.32, C.I., 1.26, 1.38).


CONCLUSIONS
When compared to the previous data on scaphoid fractures, our study showed a greater incidence of scaphoid fracture at 1.21/1000 person-years in the US military population. These data are derived from a large database which effectively captures the population at risk. Males, the younger age group and the white race were associated with higher rates of scaphoid injury in this specialised military population.
Wolf
Jennifer Moriatis
JM
University of Colorado-Denver, Aurora, CO, United States. Jennifer.Wolf@uchsc.edu
Dawson
Laura
L
Mountcastle
Sally B
SB
Owens
Brett D
BD
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019992:Databases as Topic; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D021361:Scaphoid Bone / Q000293:injuries*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014954:Wrist Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult