The Effect of Various Types of Motorcycle Helmets on Cervical Spine Injury in Head Injury Patients: A Multicenter Study in Taiwan

Introduction. The relationship between cervical spine injury (CSI) and helmet in head injury (HI) patients following motorcycle crashes is crucial. Controversy still exists; therefore we evaluated the effect of various types of helmets on CSI in HI patients following motorcycle crashes and researche...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BioMed research international 2015-01, Vol.2015 (2015), p.1-7
Main Authors: Bai, Chyi-Huey, Tsai, Shin-Han, Chu, Shu-Fen, Lin, Mau-Roung, Lam, Carlos, Chiu, Wen-Ta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic
Adolescent
Adult
Cervical Cord - injuries
Craniocerebral Trauma - epidemiology
Craniocerebral Trauma - prevention & control
Emergency medical care
Female
Head injuries
Head Protective Devices
Health aspects
Helmets
Hospitals
Humans
Male
Medical research
Middle Aged
Motorcycles
Physiological aspects
Spinal cord injuries
Taiwan
Young Adult
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Summary:Introduction. The relationship between cervical spine injury (CSI) and helmet in head injury (HI) patients following motorcycle crashes is crucial. Controversy still exists; therefore we evaluated the effect of various types of helmets on CSI in HI patients following motorcycle crashes and researched the mechanism of this effect. Patients and Methods. A total of 5225 patients of motorcycle crashes between 2000 and 2009 were extracted from the Head Injury Registry in Taiwan. These patients were divided into case and control groups according to the presence of concomitant CSI. Helmet use and types were separately compared between the two groups and the odds ratio of CSI was obtained by using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results. We observed that 173 (3.3%) of the HI patients were associated with CSI. The HI patients using a helmet (odds ratio (OR) = 0.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.19−0.49), full-coverage helmet (0.19, 0.10−0.36), and partial-coverage helmet (0.35, 0.21−0.56) exhibited a significantly decreased rate of CSI compared with those without a helmet. Conclusion. Wearing full-coverage and partial-coverage helmets significantly reduced the risk of CSI among HI patients following motorcycle crashes. This effect may be due to the smooth surface and hard padding materials of helmet.
ISSN:2314-6133
2314-6141
DOI:10.1155/2015/487985