TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Age-based variability in the association between restraint use and injury type and severity in multi-occupant crashes
JO  - Annals of epidemiology
A1  - Benedetti, Marco H.
A1  - Humphries, Kayleigh D.
A1  - Codden, Rachel
A1  - Sagar, Shraddha
A1  - Kufera, Joseph A.
A1  - Cook, Lawrence J.
A1  - Norris, Jesse
A1  - Stamatiadis, Nikiforos
A1  - Vesselinov, Roumen
A1  - Zhu, Motao
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - PURPOSE: Previous studies have shown older adults receive relatively less protection from seat belts against fatal injuries, however it is unknown how seat belt protection against severe and torso injury changes with age. We estimated age-based variability in seat belt protection against fatal injuries, injuries with maximum abbreviated injury scale greater than two (MAIS 3+), and torso injuries. <br><br>METHODS: We leveraged the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) to analyze binary indicators of fatal, MAIS 3+, and torso injuries. Using a matched cohort design and conditional Poisson regression, we estimated age-based relative risks (RR) of the outcomes associated with seat belt use. <br><br>RESULTS: Our results suggested that seat belts were highly protective against fatal injuries for all ages. For ages 16-30, seat belt use was associated with 66% lower risk of MAIS3+ injury (RR 0.34, 95% CI 0.30, 0.38) for occupants of the same vehicle, whereas for ages 75 and older, seat belt use was associated with 38% lower risk of MAIS3+ injury (RR 0.62; 95% CI 0.45, 0.86) for occupants in the same vehicle. The association between restraint use and torso injury also attenuated with age. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: In multi-occupant crashes, seat belts were highly protective against fatal and MAIS3+ injury, however seat belt protection against MAIS3+ and torso injury attenuated with age.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1047-2797
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2022.10.003
ID  - ref1
ER  -