Biomaterial Database

Factors affecting severity of bicycle-related injuries: the role of helmets in preventing head injuries. 2007

Fikri M Abu-Zidan, and Nico Nagelkerke, and Sudhakar Rao

Trauma Services, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. fabuzidan@uaeu.ac.ae

OBJECTIVE To identify factors that affect the severity of bicycle-related injuries in patients with head injury compared with those without, so as to find whether the effect of using helmets extends beyond head protection, and to explore a direct protective effect of helmets on head injuries. METHODS A total of 297 patients with bicycle-related injuries were studied. A generalized linear model was used to test the effect of age, sex, helmet use, cause of injury, year of injury, place of injury and whether the injury occurred on public or school holidays on the Injury Severity Score (ISS) in those patients who had head injury and those without. A logistic regression model was used to define the factors that contribute to head injury, while adjusting for ISS. RESULTS Factors affecting ISS in the generalized linear model in those who had head injury were: cause of injury (P = 0.01) and there was a trend for helmet use (P = 0.06). The significant factors that have affected ISS in the no head injury group were age (P = 0.002) and place of accident (P = 0.03). Logistic regression has shown that with each increase of 1 point in the ISS the odds of head injury increases by a factor of 1.22 (95% confidence interval 1.13-1.31) and the use of helmets reduces the odds of head injury by a factor of 0.48 (95% confidence interval 0.23-1.03). CONCLUSIONS The reduced severity of injury in helmeted patients is because of protection of the head and not other body regions.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D005260	Female		Females
D006259	Craniocerebral Trauma	Traumatic injuries involving the cranium and intracranial structures (i.e., BRAIN; CRANIAL NERVES; MENINGES; and other structures). Injuries may be classified by whether or not the skull is penetrated (i.e., penetrating vs. nonpenetrating) or whether there is an associated hemorrhage.	Frontal Region Trauma,Head Injuries,Head Trauma,Occipital Region Trauma,Parietal Region Trauma,Temporal Region Trauma,Craniocerebral Injuries,Crushing Skull Injury,Forehead Trauma,Head Injuries, Multiple,Head Injury, Minor,Head Injury, Open,Head Injury, Superficial,Injuries, Craniocerebral,Injuries, Head,Multiple Head Injuries,Occipital Trauma,Open Head Injury,Superficial Head Injury,Trauma, Head,Craniocerebral Injury,Craniocerebral Traumas,Crushing Skull Injuries,Forehead Traumas,Frontal Region Traumas,Head Injuries, Minor,Head Injuries, Open,Head Injuries, Superficial,Head Injury,Head Injury, Multiple,Head Traumas,Injuries, Minor Head,Injuries, Multiple Head,Injuries, Open Head,Injuries, Superficial Head,Injury, Craniocerebral,Injury, Head,Injury, Minor Head,Injury, Multiple Head,Injury, Open Head,Injury, Superficial Head,Minor Head Injuries,Minor Head Injury,Multiple Head Injury,Occipital Region Traumas,Occipital Traumas,Open Head Injuries,Parietal Region Traumas,Region Trauma, Frontal,Region Trauma, Occipital,Region Trauma, Parietal,Region Traumas, Frontal,Region Traumas, Occipital,Region Traumas, Parietal,Skull Injuries, Crushing,Skull Injury, Crushing,Superficial Head Injuries,Temporal Region Traumas,Trauma, Craniocerebral,Trauma, Forehead,Trauma, Frontal Region,Trauma, Occipital,Trauma, Occipital Region,Trauma, Parietal Region,Trauma, Temporal Region,Traumas, Craniocerebral,Traumas, Forehead,Traumas, Frontal Region,Traumas, Head,Traumas, Occipital,Traumas, Occipital Region,Traumas, Parietal Region,Traumas, Temporal Region
D006260	Head Protective Devices	Personal devices for protection of heads from impact, penetration from falling and flying objects, and from limited electric shock and burn.	Helmets,Device, Head Protective,Devices, Head Protective,Head Protective Device,Helmet,Protective Device, Head,Protective Devices, Head
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000063	Accidents, Traffic	Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.	Traffic Collisions,Traffic Crashes,Traffic Accidents,Accident, Traffic,Collision, Traffic,Collisions, Traffic,Crashes, Traffic,Traffic Accident,Traffic Collision
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000367	Age Factors	Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.	Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age