A WORLDWIDE STUDY ON THE SEASONAL-VARIATION OF SLIPPED CAPITAL FEMORAL EPIPHYSIS

The records of 1630 children (671 girls, 959 boys) with 1993 slipped c apital femoral epiphyses were reviewed. These children were from all 6 continents and 33 orthopaedic centers. The month of the slip onset wa s defined as the month when the patient presented to the physician min us the duration of symptoms as reported by the patient. There was a si gnificant variation in the month of onset for the children from North America and Europe, but not Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, or So uth America. The peak month of onset was 6.8 +/- 2.6 in North America (late June) and 7.9 +/- 2.4 in Europe (late July). This phenomenon of slips occurring significantly more often in the summer months was only present when the children lived north of the 40 degrees N latitude.