Clavicle fractures in the United States military: incidence and characteristics

Although it is generally known that clavicle fractures represent a common injury of the shoulder girdle in the general population, the true incidence in the active duty military population is unknown. Given the implications for such injuries on the ability to perform occupation-specific tasks, determining the incidence in the U.S. military population is worthwhile. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of clavicle fractures in the U.S. military and to identify any demographic risk factors for injury. We performed a query of the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database with the code from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, for clavicle fractures for the years 1999 through 2008. An overall injury incidence was calculated, in addition to multivariate analysis, to determine independent risk factors among the following demographic considerations: sex, race, branch of military service, rank, and age. During the study period, a total of 12,514 clavicle fractures were documented among an at-risk population of 13,770,767 person-years for an incidence rate (IR) of 0.91 per 1,000 person-years in the U.S. Military. Males, when compared with females, were more than twice as likely to sustain a clavicle fracture (IR ratios [IRR], 2.30; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 2.12-2.49). The peak incidence of clavicle fractures occurred in the age groups of