Research Article Demographic and Injury Activity Characteristics of Children and Adolescents With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Analysis of the First 400 Enrolments in an Australian Single-Centre Clinical Registry
by Kylie Bradford1,2*, Jodie Elliot1, Linda Camilleri3, Deb Cotter4, Sean Horan5, Sheanna Maine1, David Bade1,6, Liam Johnson1,6, Ivan Astori1, Christopher P Carty1,7
1Department of Orthopaedics, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
2School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
3Department of Physiotherapy, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
4Queensland Children’s Clinic, Brisbane, Australia
5School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
6Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
7School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
*Corresponding author: Kylie Bradford, Department of Orthopaedics, Queensland Children’s Hospital, 501 Stanley Street, South Brisbane 4101, Queensland, Australia
Received Date: 28 May 2025
Accepted Date: 05 June 2025
Published Date: 09 June 2025
Citation: Bradford K, Elliot J, Camilleri L, Cotter D, Horan S (2025) Demographic and Injury Activity Characteristics of Children and Adolescents With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Analysis of the First 400 Enrolments in an Australian Single-Centre Clinical Registry. Sports Injr Med 9: 208. https://doi.org/10.29011/2576-9596.100208
Abstract
Purpose: Detailed population descriptions are vital in informing prevention and treatment strategies for the challenging problem of paediatric anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This study aims to report demographic and injury activity characteristics of a paediatric population following ACL rupture. Methods: Data for the first 400 consecutive enrolments in a longitudinal prospective multidisciplinary registry housed at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, was extracted and analysed. Key variables (sex, age, ethnicity, and activity at time of injury) were summarized using descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics examined their inter-relationships. Simple linear regression assessed for changes in incidence over time. Major Findings: Males comprised 53.0% of participants. Median age at injury was 14.3 years with minimal difference between sexes. 82.2% were of high-school age (>12yo), and there was a predominance of males (76.4%) in children of primary-school age (≤ 12yo). A sporting injury was reported by 83.2%, with the rugby codes being the most common sport accounting for approximately one third. Those who sustained a sporting injury were older than those who sustained a non-sporting injury. As an ethnic group, Māori and/or Pacific Islander (MPI) patients were over-represented at 20.3% of the cohort. They also had higher proportions of females, sporting injury, and participants of high-school age. Conclusions: Examination of an ACL-injured paediatric population demonstrates heterogeneity across demographic and injury factors. There were more males than females, most were adolescents, most injuries occurred during sport, and a large proportion were MPI. Prevention strategies should consider these findings to optimize reduction in injury prevalence.
Keywords: ACL; Paediatrics; Knee Injuries; Sporting Injuries; Registries; Epidemiology.
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