Youth Motorcycle-Related Hospitalizations and Traumatic Brain Injuries in the United States in 2006

Abstract

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Youth motorcycle traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the few areas in which rates of hospitalized TBI among children have been increasing rapidly, and we need a better understanding of the national burden. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Our findings describe the burden of motorcycle-related injuries and TBIs in both traffic and non-traffic domains and describe the TBI burden on the basis of a very large sample, with the most-precise national estimates ever reported. abstract OBJECTIVES:The objectives were to provide national injury and health care cost estimates for youth motorcycle injuries in traffic and nontraffic settings and to focus on the burden of serious motorcyclerelated traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in children and young adults. METHODS:The 2006 Kids' Inpatient Database is a sample of inpatient discharges for US patients Ͻ21 years of age from 38 states. This crosssectional analysis of the 2006 Kids' Inpatient Database included comparisons of TBI versus non-TBI and traffic versus nontraffic motorcyclerelated crashes for ages 12 to 20, with national estimates of hospital charges and costs, length of stay, severity, and long-term disability rates. RESULTS:Motorcycle-related crashes accounted for 5662 discharges (95% confidence interval: 5201-6122 discharges), which amounts to 3% of injury hospitalizations among youths and 5% of TBI diagnoses; two-thirds of cases were traffic-related, and one-third of patients sustained a TBI (1793 patients [95% confidence interval: 1631-1955 patients]). Among patients with TBIs, the overall probability of long-term disability was 24%. Patients with TBIs were 3.6 times more likely to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility and Ͼ10 times more likely to die in the hospital than were patients without TBIs. CONCLUSIONS:Motorcycle injuries are a substantial cause of youth injury hospitalizations. The large proportion, costs, and morbidity of TBI diagnoses in youth motorcycle crashes emphasize the need for effective crash prevention and head protection. The numbers of motorcycle deaths and injuries are increasing because of increased use of motorcycles for recreation, their appeal as a fuel-saving mode of travel, and repeals of state universal helmet laws. 1 Unfortunately, these trends also hold for young adults and children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the motorcyclist death rate for ages 12 to 20 was 0.52 deaths per 100 000 population in 1999 and increased to 0.98 deaths per 100 000 population in 2006, an 88% increase. 2 In a recent review of trends in hospitalized traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases, Bowman et al 3 reported a significant increase in teenage male TBI hospitalization rates from 1998 to 2005 for motorcycle crashes, one of the very few TBI mechanisms that showed an increase over the study period.The purpose of this article is to describe more fully and to compare the national burden of motorcycle injuries and motorcycle-related TBIs in both traffic and nontraffic domains. This study describes the y...

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