Effects of helmet nonuse and seating position on patterns and severity of injuries in child motorcycle passengers

Abstract

Background A prospective study was conducted to investigate the effects of helmet nonuse and seating position on patterns and severity of motorcycle injuries among child passengers in Taiwan. Methods In total, 305 child passengers aged ≤14 years who visited the emergency departments of three teaching hospitals following a motorcycle crash were recruited. Children’s injury data were collected from medical records, and their riding behaviors along with operators’ demographics were sourced from telephone interviews. Parental responses over the telephone about children’s riding behaviors were checked by roadside observations. Results Results of the multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that compared to child passengers aged ≥7 years, those aged ≤3 (odds ratio (OR), 2.88; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.37~6.06) and 4~6 years (OR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.50~5.70) were significantly more likely to have sustained a head/face injury, while those aged 4~6 years (OR, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.01~7.55) were significantly more likely to have sustained a severe injury. Compared to child passengers who were wearing a full-coverage helmet, those who were not wearing a helmet were significantly more likely to have sustained a head/face injury (OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.02~9.52) and a severe injury (OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.19~7.62). Children seated in front of the operator were significantly more likely to have experienced a head/face injury (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.25~3.94) than those seated behind the operator. For each increment in the riding speed of 1 km/h, the odds of a severe injury to child passengers increased by 5% (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01~1.09). Conclusions For the safety of child motorcycle passengers, laws on a minimum age restriction, helmet use, an adequate seating position, and riding speed need to be enacted and comprehensively enforced.

Road Traffic Injuries among Women Brought to the Largest Tertiary Hospital in the Philippines

“…This could mean that a significant number of the pediatric female road crash admissions required more invasive and serious treatments. Similar injury patterns as those observed in the sample of this study were also observed in the study of Fan et al (2019). 41 Their study among children motorcycle passengers observed that the most common body regions injured were the extremities, head, and face.…”

“…Similar injury patterns as those observed in the sample of this study were also observed in the study of Fan et al (2019). 41 Their study among children motorcycle passengers observed that the most common body regions injured were the extremities, head, and face. Children without helmets were more likely to receive injuries to the head, yet majority of the children's passengers were not equipped with helmets.…”

“…Children without helmets were more likely to receive injuries to the head, yet majority of the children's passengers were not equipped with helmets. 41 Other causes of pediatric road crash occurrence could be unlicensed handling of a vehicle (i.e., car, motorcycle) or being a pedestrian as observed in the study of Al-Hajj et al (2020). 42 This same study among road crashes involving children in Lebanon found no significant difference between men and women.…”

Environmental Factors Associated with Severe Motorcycle Crash Injury in University Neighborhoods: A Multicenter Study in Taiwan

“…The risk and patterns of injuries between drivers and pillion passengers involved in motorcycle crashes might be different [ 21 ]. Previous research pointed out that the seating position among motorcycle passengers was associated with their injury pattern or severity [ 22 ]. To avoid bias due to contamination and improve the homogeneity of the analysis data, we selected only the victims who were driving.…”

Automated detection of motorcycle helmet use

“…These records are limited by selection bias as they only include instances where the police were called or the motorcyclist in question was transported to a hospital. There are also biases inherent in self-reported data (Fan, Chiu, & Lin, 2019). Despite these limitations, these two methods remain the standard for helmet use measurement.…”