The Association Between Weight Status and Pediatric Forearm Fractures Resulting From Ground-Level Falls.

ObjectiveThe purpose of our study was to evaluate the hypothesis that pediatric forearm fractures resulting from ground-level falls are associated with increased weight status (weight for age/sex percentile ≥ 95th) in comparison with those resulting from major trauma.MethodsThis is a retrospective case-control study nested within a case series of 929 children, ages 0 to 17 years, with self-identified residence in Washington, DC, who were treated for isolated forearm fractures in an urban, academic pediatric emergency department between 2003 and 2006. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to test for the association of weight status with mechanism of injury while controlling for sex, age, race/ethnicity, bone fractured, and season.ResultsOf 929 forearm fractures, there were 226 (24.3%) with ground-level falls and 54 (5.8%) with major trauma. Compared with children with forearm fractures resulting from major trauma, ground-level fall cases were significantly older (10.4 [3.4] vs 7.4 [4.2] years, P