Analysis of the epidemiological characteristics of inpatients with musculoskeletal injuries in a hospital affiliated with the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force and prevention strategies: a retrospective study

To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized patients with musculoskeletal system injuries among active-duty military personnel at a Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (PAP) hospital in Ningxia from 2013 to 2022. This was a retrospective single-center descriptive epidemiological study. Using the hospital information system, data from 1024 patients with musculoskeletal injuries (ICD-10 codes: S10–S99, T00–T14) were collected. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the demographic information, disease spectrum, injury distribution, temporal characteristics, and hospitalization costs of the inpatients, and statistical tests were performed to compare differences among the years. Circular distribution analysis was applied to identify the peak timing of injury occurrence across the annual cycle, with Rayleigh’s Z test used to assess the statistical significance of non-uniform distribution. The highest proportion of patients was from ordinary units (72.4%, 95%CI 69.7–75.1%, n = 741). The peak admission period was from the end of July to early August (Rayleigh’s Z = 12.36, P < 0.01). The main causes of injury were falls (30.0%, 95%CI 27.2–32.8%, n = 307) and sprains (24.1%, 95%CI 21.5–26.7%, n = 247). The most common injury sites were the wrist and hand (23.2%, 95%CI 20.7–25.7%, n = 258; multiple injury sites per patient allowed). Significant differences were observed in the distribution of injury causes and locations across different years ( P < 0.01). This 10-year epidemiological analysis of musculoskeletal injuries serves as a valuable reference to inform the development of targeted prevention strategies for troops and support the optimization of hospital resource allocation.