@article{ref1,
title="Paediatric off-road vehicle injury in rural and regional Australia",
journal="Australian journal of rural health",
year="2021",
author="Mulligan, Christopher S. and Adams, Susan and Soundappan, Soundappan S. V. and Albanese, Bianca and Brown, Julie",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Off-road riding of quad bikes and motorcycles is common among children across rural and remote Australia, but is a significant source of injury and hospitalisation. An in-depth analysis of paediatric off-road vehicle crashes was undertaken to inform injury prevention countermeasures by characterising injury patterns and sources of injury. <br><br>DESIGN: This is a prospective in-depth case series. PARTICIPANTS: Participants are children aged 16 and under who have been hospitalised due to injury sustained from the use of an off-road motorcycle or quad bike in New South Wales, Australia. INTERVENTIONS: Crash investigation techniques (medical data, structured interview, vehicle and crash site inspection) were used to ascertain details of the crash event, protective gear, injury information and contributory factors. <br><br>RESULTS: Thirty children were recruited, 27 boys and 3 girls, ranging in age from 4 to 16 years, having crashed on off-road motorcycles (n = 27) or quads (n = 3). Most (73.3%) were participating in unstructured social riding. A total of 67 separate injuries were observed, with overall Injury Severity Scores between 1 and 35. There were high rates of wearing helmets and motorcycle-specific garments. The most commonly injured areas were the upper and lower extremities. The most common sources of injury were from impacting the ground, obstacles/other riders or the vehicle. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the patterns of riding and injury in rural paediatric off-road vehicle riders, occurring despite high rates of helmet/protective gear use. This underscores the need for investigation into the injury mitigation and fit properties of protective gear and the inherent risks for physically and developmentally maturing children.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1038-5282",
doi="10.1111/ajr.12735",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12735"
}