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Background: Epidemiologic evidence documenting the incidence of fracture and subsequent fractures among adults with cerebral palsy (CP) is lacking, which could inform fracture prevention efforts. The objective was to characterize the 5-year rate of initial and subsequent fragility fractures among adults with CP. Methods: This retrospective cohort study used Medicare claims from 01/01/2008–12/31/2019 from adults ≥18 years old with CP (n = 44,239) and elderly ≥65 years old without CP (n = 2,176,463) as a comparison. The incidence rate (IR), IR ratio (IRR), and site distribution were estimated for the initial and subsequent fragility fractures over 5-years by sex and age. Results: The IR of fragility fracture at any site over the 5-year follow-up was similar for 18–30-year-old men with CP (IR = 5.2; 95%CI = 4.4–5.9) and 30–34-year-old women with CP (IR = 6.3; 95%CI = 5.3–7.2) compared to the same sex youngest-old (65–74 years old) without CP (IRR = 1.09 and 0.94, respectively, both P > 0.05), and increased with older age for those with CP. The number of fragility fractures and IR of subsequent fragility fractures was similar for young men and middle-aged women with CP compared to elderly without CP, and increased with older age for those with CP. The proportion of fragility fracture at the tibia/fibula decreased while the vertebral column and multiple simultaneous sites (most involved hip/lower extremities) increased with older age. Conclusion: Young and middle-aged adults with CP had similar-to-worse initial and subsequent fragility fracture profiles compared to the general elderly population- a well characterized group for bone fragility. Findings emphasize the need for fracture prevention efforts at younger ages for CP, possibly by ~5 decades younger.

Background: Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) manifest skeletal fragility problems early in life, are vulnerable to non-trauma fracture (NTFx), and have a high burden of premature mortality. No studies have examined the contribution of NTFx to mortality among adults with CP. The purpose of this study was to determine if NTFx is a risk factor for mortality among adults with CP and if NTFx exacerbates mortality risk compared to adults without CP. Methods: Data from 2011 to 2016 Optum Clinformatics® Data Mart and a random 20% sample Medicare fee-for-service were used for this retrospective cohort study. Diagnosis codes were used to identify adults (18+ years) with and without CP, NTFx, and pre-NTFx comorbidities. Crude mortality rates per 100 person years were estimated. Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HR and 95% confidence interval [CI]) for mortality, comparing: (1) CP and NTFx (CP + NTFx; n = 1777); (2) CP without NTFx (CP w/o NTFx; n = 12,933); (3) without CP and with NTFx (w/o CP + NTFx; n = 433,560); and (4) without CP and without NTFx (w/o CP w/o NTFx; n = 6.8 M) after adjusting for demographics and pre-NTFx comorbidities. Results: The 3-, 6-, and 12-month crude mortality rates were highest among CP + NTFx (12-month mortality rate = 6.80), followed by w/o CP + NTFx (12-month mortality rate = 4.91), CP w/o NTFx (12-month mortality rate = 2.15), and w/o CP w/o NTFx (12-month mortality rate = 0.49). After adjustments, the mortality rate was elevated for CP + NTFx for all time points compared to CP w/o NTFx (e.g., 12-month HR = 1.61; 95%CI = 1.29–2.01), w/o CP + NTFx (e.g., 12-month HR = 1.49; 95%CI = 1.24–1.80), and w/o CP w/o NTFx (e.g., 12-month HR = 5.33; 95%CI = 4.42–6.44). There were site-specific effects (vertebral column, lower extremities) on 12-month mortality. Conclusions: NTFx is associated with an increase of 12-month mortality risk among adults with CP and compared to adults without CP. Findings suggest that NTFx may be a robust risk factor for mortality among adults with CP.

Background: Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) are vulnerable to non-trauma fracture (NTFx) and premature mortality due to respiratory disease (RD); however, very little is known about the contribution of NTFx to RD risk among adults with CP. The purpose of this study was to determine if NTFx is a risk factor for incident RD and if NTFx exacerbates RD risk in the adult CP population. Methods: Data from 2011 to 2016 Optum Clinformatics® Data Mart and a random 20% sample Medicare fee-for-service were used for this retrospective cohort study. Diagnosis codes were used to identify adults (18+ years) with and without CP, NTFx, incident RD at 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month time points (pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial/pleura disease), and comorbidities. Crude incidence rates per 100 person years of RD were estimated. Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HR and 95% confidence interval [CI]) for RD measures, comparing: (1) CP and NTFx (CP + NTFx); (2) CP without NTFx (CP w/o NTFx); (3) without CP and with NTFx (w/o CP + NTFx); and (4) without CP and without NTFx (w/o CP w/o NTFx) after adjusting for demographics and comorbidities. Results: The crude incidence rate was elevated for CP + NTFx vs. CP w/o NTFx and w/o CP + NTFx for each RD measure. After adjustments, the HR was elevated for CP + NTFx vs. CP w/o NTFx for pneumonia and interstitial/pleura disease at all time points (all P