Epidemiology and patterns of facial fractures due to road traffic accidents in Taiwan: A 15-year retrospective study.
The facial region is a commonly fractured site, but the etiology varies widely by country and geographic region. To date, there are no population-based studies of facial fractures in Taiwan.



We conducted a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with facial fracture and registered in the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan between 1997 and 2011. The epidemiological characteristics of this cohort were analyzed, including the etiology, fracture site, associated injuries, and sex and age distributions.



A total of 6,013 cases were identified that involved facial fractures. Most patients were male (69.8%), aged 18-29 years (35.8%), and had fractures caused by road traffic accidents (RTAs; 55.2%), particularly motorcycle accidents (31.5%). Falls increased in frequency with advancing age, reaching 23.9% among the elderly (age > 65 years). The most common sites of involvement were the malar and maxillary bones (54.0%), but nasal bone fractures were more common among those younger than 18 years.



Most facial injuries in Taiwan occur in young males and typically result from RTAs, particularly involving motorcycles. However, with increasing age, there is an increase in the proportion of facial injuries due to falls.
a Department of Plastic Surgery, Ditmanson Medical Foundation , Chia-Yi Christian Hospital , Taiwan , Republic of China.|b Department of Leisure , Recreation, and Tourism Management, Tatung Institute of Technology , Taiwan , Republic of China.
Cheng-San
CS
Yang
c Department of Pediatrics , Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital , Chia-Yi, Taiwan , Republic of China.|d Department of Medical Research , Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital , Chia-Yi, Taiwan , Republic of China.|e School of Medicine , Taipei Medical University , Taipei , Taiwan , Republic of China.
Solomon Chih-Cheng
SC
Chen
f Department of Surgery , Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital , Taiwan , Republic of China.
Yung-Cheng
YC
Yang
g Department of Psychiatry , Chia-Yi Branch, Taichung, Veterans General Hospital , Chia-Yi, Taiwan , Republic of China.
Li-Chung
LC
Huang
h Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine , National Cheng Kung University , Taiwan , Republic of China.|i Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , National Cheng Kung University Hospital , Taiwan , Republic of China.
How-Ran
HR
Guo
d Department of Medical Research , Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital , Chia-Yi, Taiwan , Republic of China.
Hsin-Yi
HY
Yang
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009049:Motorcycles; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
Epidemiology; associated injuries; etiology; facial fractures; fractured bone location