Universal Motorcycle Helmet Laws to Reduce Injuries: A Community Guide Systematic Review

Peng, Yinan; Vaidya, Namita; Finnie, Ramona; Reynolds, Jeffrey A.; Dumitru, Cristian-Dragoş; Njie, Gibril J.; Elder, Randy; Ivers, Rebecca; Sakashita, Chika; Shults, Ruth A.; Sleet, David A.; Compton, Richard P.

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.11.030

Cited by 48 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Ichiwaka et al reported a 41% reduction in head injuries in Thailand 2 years after the implementation of a mandatory helmet use law. 7 A similar reduction in head injuries and fatalities has been reported in Malaysia, 8 Vietnam, 9 USA 3 and Italy 10 after the implementation of helmet use laws. Bicycle helmet use is a means of reducing morbidity and mortality among bike users.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

A population-based case-control study of hospitalisation due to head injuries among bicyclists and motorcyclists in Taiwan

Pai

Chen

2017

BMJ Open

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IntroductionAccording to official statistics in Taiwan, the main body region of injury causing bicyclist deaths is the head, and bicyclists are 2.6 times more likely to be fatally injured than motorcyclists. There is currently a national helmet law for motorcyclists but not for bicyclists.ObjectivesThe primary aim of this study was to determine whether bicyclist casualties have higher odds of head-related hospitalisation than motorcyclists. This study also aims to investigate the determinants of head injury-related hospitalisation among bicyclists and motorcyclists.MethodsUsing linked data from the National Traffic Accident Dataset and the National Health Insurance Research Database for the period 2003–2012, this study investigates the crash characteristics of bicyclist and motorcyclist casualties presenting to hospitals due to motor vehicle crashes. Head injury-related hospitalisation was used as the study outcome for both road users to evaluate whether various factors (eg, human attributes, road and weather conditions, vehicle characteristics) are related to hospital admission of those who sustained serious injuries.ResultsAmong 1 239 474 bicyclist and motorcyclist casualties, the proportion of bicyclists hospitalised for head injuries was higher than that of motorcyclists (10.0% vs 6.5%). However, the multiple logistic regression model shows that, after adjustment of this result for other factors such as helmet use, bicyclists were 18% significantly less likely to be hospitalised for head injuries than motorcyclists (AOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.85). Other important determinants of head injury-related hospitalisation for bicyclists and motorcyclists include female riders, elderly riders, crashes occurring in rural areas, moped riders, riding unhelmeted, intoxicated bicyclists and motorcyclists, unlicensed motorcyclists, dusk and dawn conditions and single-vehicle crashes.ConclusionsOur finding underscores the importance of helmet use in reducing hospitalisation due to head injuries among bicyclists while current helmet use is relatively low.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

A population-based case-control study of hospitalisation due to head injuries among bicyclists and motorcyclists in Taiwan

Pai

Chen

2017

BMJ Open

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“…Similar arguments have previously been made for HIV prevention strategies (50) (51) and other safety devices and mandates such as motorcycle helmet laws (52) and seat-belts (53). However, research on these topics finds no such increase in adverse outcomes at the population level but rather improvements in safety and well-being, suggesting that even if risk compensation occurs in some individuals, that effect is dwarfed by the increased safety at the population level (53,54). Further, even for deliberately high-risk recreational activities such as alpine skiing and snowboarding, wearing a helmet was generally associated with risk reduction orientedbehavior (55), suggesting safety devices are both compatible with and perhaps encourage safety-oriented behavior.…”

Section: B2 Sociological Considerations and Anticipating Populationsupporting

confidence: 55%

Face Masks Against COVID-19: An Evidence Review

Howard¹,

Huang²,

Li³

et al. 2020

Preprint

267

264

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The science around the use of masks by the general public to impede COVID-19 transmission is advancing rapidly. Policymakers need guidance on how masks should be used by the general population to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we synthesize the relevant literature to inform multiple areas: 1) transmission characteristics of COVID-19, 2) filtering characteristics and efficacy of masks, 3) estimated population impacts of widespread community mask use, and 4) sociological considerations for policies concerning mask-wearing. A primary route of transmission of COVID-19 is likely via small respiratory droplets, and is known to be transmissible from presymptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Reducing disease spread requires two things: first, limit contacts of infected individuals via physical distancing and contact tracing with appropriate quarantine, and second, reduce the transmission probability per contact by wearing masks in public, among other measures. The preponderance of evidence indicates that mask wearing reduces the transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infected droplets in both laboratory and clinical contexts. Public mask wearing is most effective at stopping spread of the virus when compliance is high. The decreased transmissibility could substantially reduce the death toll and economic impact while the cost of the intervention is low. Thus we recommend the adoption of public cloth mask wearing, as an effective form of source control, in conjunction with existing hygiene, distancing, and contact tracing strategies. We recommend that public officials and governments strongly encourage the use of widespread face masks in public, including the use of appropriate regulation.

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“…A systematic review by Peng et al reported that implementing universal helmet laws in the USA increased helmet use by 47% and reduced total injuries by 32% and injuries per registered motorcycle by 29%. 26 Another study by Lee reveals that lives saved from the helmet law in the USA were estimated to be associated with an aggregated life yield value of approximately US$940 million. 27 The studies in Asia and Europe also consistently demonstrated that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of death, craniocerebral trauma and facial injuries by up to one-half.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of helmet law on the changes in potential years of life lost due to traffic injury: a multiple-province evaluation in Vietnam

et al. 2019

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IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of the helmet law on the changes in potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to traffic mortality and to examine modification effects of socioeconomic factors on the impacts in Vietnam.MethodsWe applied an interrupted time series design using the Bayesian framework to estimate the impact of the law at the provincial level. Then, we used random effects meta-analysis to estimate the impact of the law at the country level and to examine the modification effects of socioeconomic factors.ResultsThe results indicate that the impacts varied among the provinces. These impacts could be classified by four main groups comprising positive impact, and positive impact without sustainability, possible positive impact, negative or inconsistent impact. For the country-level impact, the results reveal a significantly consistent change in monthly PYLLs at the level of 18 per 100 000 persons, and the post-trend was stable without significant change. The results of meta-regression show that 1 unit increase in the population density (persons/km2), migration rate (%) and income (×1000 dong) are non-significantly associated with increases of PYLLs at 1.3, 27 and 27 per 100 000 person-months, respectively, whereas 1% increase in literacy associated with a decrease of PYLL at 44 per 100 000 person-months.DiscussionFurther studies should be warranted to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the law implementation, including its acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, cost-effectiveness and sustainability.

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Universal Motorcycle Helmet Laws to Reduce Injuries: A Community Guide Systematic Review

Cited by 48 publications

References 87 publications

A population-based case-control study of hospitalisation due to head injuries among bicyclists and motorcyclists in Taiwan

A population-based case-control study of hospitalisation due to head injuries among bicyclists and motorcyclists in Taiwan

Face Masks Against COVID-19: An Evidence Review

Impacts of helmet law on the changes in potential years of life lost due to traffic injury: a multiple-province evaluation in Vietnam

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