Original contribution
A prospective study of the impact of helmet usage on motorcycle trauma

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81426-XGet rights and content

Study objective:

To determine the effect of the use of a motorcycle helmet on reducing the mortality, morbidity, and health care costs resulting from motorcycle crashes.

Design:

A prospective, multicenter study of all eligible motorcycle crash victims.

Setting:

The emergency departments of eight medical centers across the state of Illinois, including representatives from urban, rural, teaching, and community facilities.

Type of participants:

All motorcycle crash victims presenting less than 24 hours after injury for whom helmet information was known. Data were collected from April 1 through October 31, 1988.

Measurements and main results:

Fifty-eight of 398 patients (14.6%) were helmeted, and 340 (85.4%) were not. The nonhelmeted patients had higher Injury Severity Scores (11.9 vs 7.02), sustained head/neck injuries more frequently (41.7 vs 24.1%), and had lower Glasgow Coma Scores (13.73 vs 14.51). Twenty-five of the 26 fatalities were nonhelmeted patients. By logistic regression, the lack of helmet use was found to be a major risk factor for increased severity of injury. A 23% increase in health care costs was demonstrated for nonhelmeted patients (average charges $7, 208 vs $5, 852).

Conclusion:

Helmet use may reduce the overall severity of injury and the incidence of head injuries resulting from motorcycle crashes. A trend toward higher health care costs was demonstrated in the nonhelmeted patients.

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      Besides, their movements are more flexible than other road users but in the meantime they are less predictable, and therefore are the most vulnerable group in traffic crashes. More detailed research found that head injury is the main cause of motorcyclist deaths and helmet use is effective prevention of driver trauma (Hefny et al., 2012; Kelly et al., 1991). Overall, motorcycles and heavy vehicles are important factors for driver injuries severities.

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    Supported by a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Presented at the Illinois ACEP Scientific Assembly in Chicago, March 1989; the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting in San Diego, May 1989; and the Sixth World Conference on Emergency and Disaster Medicine in Hong Kong, September 1989.

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