SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Hundley JC, Kilgo PD, Miller PR, Chang MC, Hensberry RA, Meredith JW, Hoth JJ. J. Trauma 2004; 57(5): 944-949.

Affiliation

Departments of General Surgery and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15580015

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Helmet laws remain controversial. Opponents believe negative findings are a result of biased statistical analyses that fail to account for the impact of alcohol and drugs. In this study, we evaluated the effect that helmet use had upon injury severity, outcome controlling for alcohol or drug use, resource utilization, and financial burden using the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB). METHODS:: Two groups of patients, helmeted and non-helmeted motorcyclists, were identified using the NTDB over an 8-year period. Group differences were compared using nonparametric Wilcoxon tests for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test for dichotomous outcomes. To evaluate the effect that alcohol or drug use had on mortality, logistic regression models were created. RESULTS:: A total of 9,769 patients were identified by the NTDB of which 6756 (69.2%) were helmeted and 3013 (30.8%) were non-helmeted. Helmet use was associated with lower injury severity, mortality, and resource utilization. Non-helmeted motorcyclists accrued greater hospital charges and were significantly less likely to have health insurance. When controlling for alcohol or drug use, mortality continued to be significantly associated with non-helmet use. CONCLUSION:: Non-helmeted motorcyclists have worse outcomes than their helmeted counterparts independent of the use of alcohol or drugs. Furthermore, they monopolize more hospital resources, incur higher hospital charges, and as non-helmeted motorcyclists frequently do not have insurance, reimbursement in this group of patients is poor. Thus, the burden of caring for these patients is transmitted to society as a whole.

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print