An epidemiology of distal radius fractures in northern Japan

We selected five cities in Iwate prefecture, Japan and collected information on all the cases of distal radius fracture from January 1994 through December 1995. A total of 609 fractures were recorded. The overall incidence was 15.5 fractures per 10,000. A marked rise in the cumulative incidence of the fracture was seen in males up to 20 years of age. In contrast, females did not exhibit a marked rise in cumulative incidence until after 50 years of age. The left side was significantly more affected in the entire series, however, the right side was significantly more affected in patients between 40 and 60 years of age. In fracture types, there were differences among the 3 age-groups (children, young-middle age and aged), and there was a possibility that the females of the older groups had a higher incidence of more serious fractures leading to greater functional impairment and morbidity.