Background:
Injuries are the number one cause of morbidity and mortality among adolescents. Prevention of adolescent related injuries is an investment for a country as adolescents belong to an economically productive age group.
In Sri Lanka, 59.5% of upper limb fracture victims admitted to the National Hospital was facing difficulties in performing their daily activities during the first three months after treatment.
Objectives:
To assess the functional outcomes of adolescents with upper limb fractures aged 10 to 19 years attending selected government hospitals in a selected district in Sri Lanka.
Methodology:
A follow up study was carried out for randomly selected 400 adolescent victims who had been diagnosed with upper limb fractures due to injuries. They were recruited from six major hospitals in the district of Colombo after initial treatment and followed up after six weeks. A validated and culturally adopted new instrument was used to assess their functional outcomes at six weeks while attending follow up clinics at their respective hospitals or at their residences.
Results:
Out of 400 victims, 33.2% had good functional outcomes after six weeks of treatment. Most of them were unable to perform special activities namely playing, sports or recreational activities or sewing (Mean score 865.5 with standard deviation of 23.97).
Conclusions and Recommendations:
The rehabilitation care of adolescent fracture victims has to be strengthened to have a speedy recovery as they are the future generation in a country.
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