Bone Abstracts

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of age, sex, location of injury, physical activity, dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D on injury outcome in otherwise healthy children.

Materials: This study was a cross-sectional prospective study. Children aged 6 to 15 years who presented to the Emergency Department of a single tertiary paediatric referral hospital were recruited. Children were included it they were known not to have underlying disease or long-term medication. Children were not eligible if they had been involved in high-energy trauma as we hypothesised that fracture is more likely to happen regardless of other factors. Patients’ age, sex and injury location were retrieved from their emergency notes. Physical activity were assessed using validated recall questionnaire. Vitamin D and calcium intake were assessed using validated food frequency questionnaire. All participants had a radiograph of their injured limb reported by a consultant radiologist. The patients were classified into two outcome groups (fracture or no facture) based on the imaging findings. Data analysis include descriptive and inferential statistic. Logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of a number of factors on the injury outcome.

Results: 130 patients were recruited and of these, 53 (40%) patients sustained a fracture. 119 (91%) and 127 (98%) children did not consume the recommended daily dietary amount of calcium and vitamin D, respectively. Patients’ age, physical activity, vitamin D and calcium intake were not significantly associated with fractures. Sex was found to have a significant effect on injury outcome with males being at higher risk of fracture. Injury to the wrist was significantly associated with an increased risk of fracture. The logistic regression showed that some factors were significant predictors of the injury outcome when controlling for other factors in the model.

Conclusion: Children’s lifestyle in this study was poor in terms of dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium as well as their engagement in physical activities. We failed to show any association between these modifiable factors and injury outcome, probably because of the high prevalence amongst the population of low dietary vitamin D and calcium.

Disclosure: The authors declared no competing interests.