Preferential distal radius fracture in right-handed individuals presenting to an ED

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a lateralizing predisposition toward injury in right hand-dominant (RHD) individuals. The distal radius fracture was used as the injury for evaluation because it is easily defined and can be objectively documented by roentgenography. A prospective case-series design was used to include consecutive RHD patients with a distal radius fracture. There were 86 women with an average age of 63.1 +/- 17.9 years and 41 men with an average age of 44.0 +/- 17.6 years with a significant difference between ages (P <.01). Overall, there were 50 right and 77 left distal radius fractures, which was significantly different than a 50:50 split (P <.025). Stratification and logistic regression analysis revealed that age (dichotomized into age greater than 57 or other) and not gender was a significant factor in the determination of left versus right distal radius fracture. No interaction between age and gender was found. After adjustment for gender, the odds of developing a left compared with right distal radius fracture was 2.3-fold greater for the older compared with the younger age group (95% confidence interval, 1.0-5.2). Preliminary evidence suggests a lateralizing predisposition for left distal radius fractures in older compared with younger individuals who are RHD. If this data holds up, finding the etiology/mechanism of this predisposition might help in designing environments to minimize the impact of this injury pattern in the slightly older individual.