TY - JOUR
T1 - Moving targets
T2 - Bicycle-related injuries and helmet use among university students
AU - Fullerton, Lynne
AU - Becker, Thomas
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1991/3
Y1 - 1991/3
N2 - We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate bicyding habits and helmet use in a sample of university students in a southwestern state university. Thirty-one of 100 students in our sample owned bicycle helmets; of these, 17 (54.8%) wore helmets during most (more than three fourths) of their bicycle trips. Almost half of the students reported that more than 25% of their bicycling was done in heavy traffic but they rarely used bicycle trails. Sixty-five students in the sample had sustained at least one minor injury during the previous 5 years, and 18 had been hospitalized as a result of bicycle-related injuries. We found no substantial differences between male and female subjects in bicycle-related hospitalizations, although male subjects were more likely to sustain minor injuries than were females. Helmet ownership was most strongly associated with previous injury experience, especially hospitalization resulting from bicycling injuries (OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 1.3, 10.1). We also observed an association between helmet ownership and possession of insurance coverage for bicyding injuries (OR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.2, 7.6). Ethnicity was a factor in helmet ownership— helmets were owned by 26 of 69 (37.7%) of non-Hispanic whites, in contrast to 1 of 24 (4.2%) of all other enthic groups combined. Our survey data suggest that perceived risk is an important factor in bicyclists' use of safety helmets.
AB - We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate bicyding habits and helmet use in a sample of university students in a southwestern state university. Thirty-one of 100 students in our sample owned bicycle helmets; of these, 17 (54.8%) wore helmets during most (more than three fourths) of their bicycle trips. Almost half of the students reported that more than 25% of their bicycling was done in heavy traffic but they rarely used bicycle trails. Sixty-five students in the sample had sustained at least one minor injury during the previous 5 years, and 18 had been hospitalized as a result of bicycle-related injuries. We found no substantial differences between male and female subjects in bicycle-related hospitalizations, although male subjects were more likely to sustain minor injuries than were females. Helmet ownership was most strongly associated with previous injury experience, especially hospitalization resulting from bicycling injuries (OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 1.3, 10.1). We also observed an association between helmet ownership and possession of insurance coverage for bicyding injuries (OR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.2, 7.6). Ethnicity was a factor in helmet ownership— helmets were owned by 26 of 69 (37.7%) of non-Hispanic whites, in contrast to 1 of 24 (4.2%) of all other enthic groups combined. Our survey data suggest that perceived risk is an important factor in bicyclists' use of safety helmets.
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U2 - 10.1080/07448481.1991.9936237
DO - 10.1080/07448481.1991.9936237
M3 - Article
C2 - 1783704
AN - SCOPUS:0026101696
SN - 0744-8481
VL - 39
SP - 213
EP - 217
JO - Journal of the American College Health Association
JF - Journal of the American College Health Association
IS - 5
ER -