Purpose: Studies reporting epidemiology of fractures are not common in physiotherapy practice. The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology of lower limb fractures in selected hospitals located in Greater Accra Region, Ghana and to investigate the outcomes of physiotherapy interventions in ambulatory rehabilitation.

Relevance: Population-based survey that documents the pattern of occurence of fracture, the risk factors and the assessment of outcomes of its rehabilitation is necesssary to improve preventive and management strategies.

Methods: A retrospective study was carried out from January, 2009 to December, 2010 by retrieving 370 case notes of patients with lower limb fractures referred and managed at physiotherapy department. Data collected included age, sex, anatomical locations, affected side, and risk factors of lower limb fractures. Prospective part of the study was also conducted from March to June 2011 to evaluate the outcome of ambulatory training involving 30 patients presented with lower limb fractures at the physiotherapy departments. The documented prognosis of the rehabilitation was studied from the case files within the study period.

Data Analysis: Data were summarized using frequency and percentage distributions while chi-square was used to determine the associations of outcome of ambulatory rehabilitation with age and sex of the clients. Level of significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: Four hundred cases of lower limb fractures were studied. The mean age of patients with lower limb fractures was 46±11years. Femoral fracture 185(50.1%) and road traffic accidents (RTA) 170(45.9%) were the most common pattern and risk factors of lower limb fractures respectively. Accidental falls constituted the most common risk factors in older female adults. Significant association was observed between age and outcome of ambulatory training (p-value = 0.002)

Conclusion: The outcomes of this study showed femur as the most frequently fractured part of the lower limb with RTA and accidental falls as the predominant risk factors. Poor prognosis of ambulatory rehabilitation was observed among the older patients with lower limb fractures.

Implication: The outcomes of this study emphasize the need to increase awareness campaign by the stakeholders about preventive measures with regard to road traffic accident and incidence of falls among the older patients.