Cross country variation of fractures in the childhood population. Is the origin biological or “accidental”?
- M Moustaki1,
- M Lariou1,
- E Petridou2
- 1Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece
- 2Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias, Goudi, Athens 115-27, Greece Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
- Correspondence to: Dr Petridou in Athens epetrid{at}cc.uoa.gr
Editor,—The interesting paper by Lyons et al revealed that the annual incidence rate of fractures among children aged 0–12 years was two to three times higher in Wales1 than in other western European countries.2, 3 This discrepancy prompted us to briefly report on the epidemiological profile of fractures in the childhood population of Greece and discuss the implications of the observed differences.
Our data derive from the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS) database which is run by the Center for Research and Prevention of Injuries among the Young (CEREPRI).4 All types of childhood injuries treated at the emergency departments of the participating hospitals, which have well circumscribed catchment areas in rural and urban Greece, are routinely recorded in this database. The catchment area includes the Greater Athens area, where about 40% of the country's population resides, Magnesia county in Greece mainland, and Corfu county on the island of Corfu. Our methodology was similar to that followed by Lyons et al thus …
