Pattern of Fractures Across Pediatric Age Groups: Analysis of Individual and Lifestyle Factors in an Urban Pakistani Population

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between paediatric fracture patterns, developmental stages, lifestyle determinants such as screen time, nutritional supplementation and injury energy levels in an urban Pakistani population.

Methodology: This prospective analytical cross-sectional study was carried out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad (PIMS), from October 2024 to April 2025 using simple random sampling. A total of 520 paediatric patients, who were aged between 0 and 12 years with confirmed radiological acute fractures, were recruited using a simple random sampling method. Data were gathered based on demographics, injury mechanism (high energy vs low energy trauma), daily screen time consumption and Vitamin D/Calcium supplementation consumption. For the statistical analysis, IBM SPSS V31.0.2.0 was employed to perform Pearson Chi-square tests .

Results: The mean age of the patients was  years in the population. The population had males in the majority  compared to females. Supracondylar fractures were the most frequent injuries . High-energy trauma occurred significantly more often among children aged 6-12 years  compared to children aged 0–5 years . Males sustained a higher proportion of high-energy injuries than females . A large proportion of patients had high screen time  and lacked regular nutritional supplementation .

Conclusions: Paediatric fracture patterns in Islamabad are heavily determined by age and gender, with increasing rates of high-energy trauma occurring among older children. Sedentary behaviour and inadequate nutritional supplementation exacerbate this trend, underscoring the need for public health strategies that target paediatric bone health improvement.