The incidence of cervical and thoracic spine fractures has increased, especially in white females ages 80 to 89, according to a study reported at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Sept. 26-29.
In the retrospective study, researchers used the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database to identify patients who visited the emergency department between Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2016, and were diagnosed with cervical and/or thoracic spine fractures.
Here are five study findings:
1. A total of 131,176 fractures were identified, with 95.4 percent being thoracic fractures and 4.7 percent being cervical fractures.
2. The number of fractures increased from 10,000 in 2007 to 18,168 in 2016. The incidence of cervical and thoracic spine fractures was estimated at 0.419 per 10,000 person-years.
3. Patients 80 years and older had an incidence rate of 3.36 per 10,000 person-years, the highest among all age groups. Within this group, 57 percent of fractures occurred in women while 43 percent occurred in men.
4. White patients had a fracture incidence rate of 0.33 per 10,000 person-years.
5. ED visits for cervical and thoracic spine fractures increased from 37 percent in 2007 to 43.8 percent in 2016. Falls were attributed to 77.4 percent of fractures.