Epidemiology of Lateral and Medial Epicondylitis in a Military Population

Objective: To determine the epidemiology of lateral and medial epicondylitis in the U.S. military. Methods: The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database was queried for ICD-9 codes 726.32 (lateral epicondylitis) and 726.33 (medial epicondylitis) for the years 1998-2006. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rates (IR) and rate ratios (RR) among demographic groups. Results: The IRs for lateral and medial epicondylitis were 2.98 and 0.81 per 1,000 person-years. For lateral epicondylitis, women had a higher incidence (RR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.19-1.26). In both groups, analysis by age showed higher incidence in the >= 40-year-old group. White compared with black race was a risk factor for both lateral (RR = 1.68, 95% CI, 1.63-1.74) and medial epicondylitis (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.05-1.17). Conclusions: Female gender was a risk factor for lateral but not medial epicondylitis. Age greater than 40 and white race were significant risk factors for both conditions.