Association between childhood fractures and poverty: population based study.

Childhood mortality from injuries is known to be higher in children from deprived backgrounds, but the picture for non-fatal injuries is less clear. Fractures provide a measure of injury rates that is independent of distance from accident and emergency departments. Lyons et al found no difference in fracture rates in children from deprived and affluent areas. This, however, contradicts our anecdotal impression from accident and emergency and fracture clinics. We therefore conducted a retrospective population based study to assess the association between deprivation and childhood fracture rates in our area.