Tear of Meniscus - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

The meniscal tear is the most common knee injury. A meniscal tear tends to be more frequent in sports that have rough contact or pivoting sports such as soccer. The meniscal tear is more common in males than females. The ratio is about two and a half males to one female. Males between the ages of thirty one and forty tend to tear their meniscus more frequently than younger men. Females on the other hand, seem to be more likely to tear their meniscus between the ages of eleven and twenty. People who work in straining jobs such as construction or pro athletes are also more likely to have a meniscal tear because of all the different tensions of their knees. According to the United States National Library of Medicine, the isolated medial meniscal tear occurs more frequently than any other tear associated with the meniscus. The prevalence of meniscus tears is the same for both knees. In a few different studies the BMI of a person can have a greater effect on the frequency of a meniscus tear because having a higher BMI will result in more weight on the joints which can cause the knee to be non-aligned which causes more weight on the muscles resulting in an easier tear. In 2008 the U.S Department of Health and Human Services reported a combined total of 2,295 discharges for the principal diagnosis of tear of lateral cartilage/meniscus (836.0), tear of medial cartilage/meniscus (836.1), and tear of cartilage/meniscus (836.2). Females had a total of 53.49% discharges while males had 45.72%. Individuals between the ages of 45-68 year had an average of 31.73% discharges followed by age group 65-84 with 28.82%. The average length of stay for a patient diagnosed with torn menisci was 2.7 days for males and 3.7 days for females. There was a report of 6,941 hospital discharges for knee repair. Individuals between 18–44 years of age were among the highest with 37.37% total of discharges followed by the age group 45-64 with a percentage of 36.34%. Males had a slightly higher number of discharges (50.78%) than females (48.66%). The average length of stay for both male and female patients in a hospital setting was 3.1.