Poster 375: Incidence of Tendon Ruptures in the US: Comparison of Differences Across Racial Groups

Objectives: Tendon ruptures affect quality of life, participation in competitive athletics and increase healthcare costs. Previous literature has focused on diagnostic evaluation and management of tendon ruptures and there is scarce epidemiological data on this topic. The epidemiological literature that does exist regarding this topic is often limited to the achilles and patellar tendons. Furthermore, to our knowledge these studies are largely based out of Europe or Canada and prior to 2010. The purpose of this study was to provide a U.S population-based study using the NEISS database, on the incidence of tendon ruptures and describe whether racial differences exist in the incidence of tendon ruptures. Methods: The NEISS, a nationally representative sample of US hospital emergency departments, was used to ascertain the incidence rates of various types of tendon ruptures in the United States. All cases from 2001-2020 were reviewed for case narratives to select only those cases with a clear diagnosis of an acute primary tendon rupture. After exclusions, a total of n=5,765 unweighted cases were identified, representing a national estimate of N=235,189 tendon ruptures (95% CI=186,833-283,546). The NEISS database contains patient demographic information including age, sex, and race. Race categories were regrouped as follows: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals were added to the category “Other,” and Native Hawaiian(NH)/Pacific Islander (PI) individuals were added to the category “Asian” due to the small number of cases involving these groups. Thus, the race categories for final analysis included (1) White, (2) Black/African American, (3) Other (including “Other” and “AI/AN”), and (4) Asian/Pacific Islander (“Asian,” including “Asian” and “NH/PI”). Statistical analysis was performed using the survey data commands in Stata/IC, version 17.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, US), accounting for sample weights and the complex survey designs. The incidence rate (IR) of tendon ruptures and mechanism were calculated and chi-square tests were used to compare estimated IRs between groups. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) are reported and represent unitless expressions of risk used for the comparison of IRs between two distinct subgroups, with the IR of an identified referent subgroup serving as the denominator. IRRs among race, sex, and age groups are reported. Student t-test/analysis of variance and design-adjusted Rao-Scott chi-square analysis was used for dir