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. 2023 Jan 10;20(2):1265.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021265.

The FRISK (Fracture Risk)-A New Tool to Indicate the Probability of Fractures

Florian Wichlas  1 , Franziska Melanie Hahn  2 , Serafeim Tsitsilonis  2 , Tobias Lindner  2 , Tim Marnitz  2 , Christian Deininger  3 , Valeska Hofmann  4
Affiliations

The FRISK (Fracture Risk)-A New Tool to Indicate the Probability of Fractures

Florian Wichlas et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Increasing patient inflow into the emergency department makes it necessary to optimize triage management. The scope of this work was to determine simple factors that could detect fractures in patients without the need for specialized personnel. Between 2014 and 2015, 798 patients were admitted to an orthopedic emergency department and prospectively included in the study. The patients received a questionnaire before contacting the doctor. Objective and subjective data were evaluated to determine fracture risk for the upper and lower extremities. The highest risk for fractures in one region was the hip (73.21%; n = 56), followed by the wrist (60.32%; n = 63) and the femoral shaft (4 of 7, 57.14%; n = 7). The regions with the lowest risk were the knee (8.41%; n = 107), the ankle (18.29%; n = 164), and the forearm shaft (30.00%; n = 10). Age was a predictor for fracture: patients older than 59 years had a risk greater than 59.26%, and patients older than 90 years had a risk greater than 83.33%. The functional questions could exclude fractures. Three factors seem to be able to predict fracture risk: the injured region, the patient's age, and a functional question. They can be used for a probatory heuristic that needs to be proven in a prospective way.

Keywords: age; emergency department; fracture risk; functional questions; visual analog scale.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The graph shows the percentage of fractures in groups with increasing age (10-year increments).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The graph shows the VAS values of all patients (total) and the patients with fractures.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proposed heuristic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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