Journal of Surgical Research
Volume 158, Issue 1 , Pages 1-5 , January 2010

Motorcycle Helmets Save Lives, But Not Limbs: A National Trauma Data Bank Analysis of Functional Outcomes After Motorcycle Crash1

  • Joseph G. Crompton, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
    • Corresponding Author InformationTo whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed at, Trauma Outcomes Research Group, Department of Surgery, Division of Acute Care Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Carnegie 683, Baltimore, MD 21287.
    • ,
  • Tolulope Oyetunji, M.D., M.P.H.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C
    • ,
  • Kent A. Stevens, M.D., M.P.H.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
    • ,
  • David T. Efron, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
    • ,
  • Elliott R. Haut, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
    • ,
  • Adil H. Haider, M.D., M.P.H.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Received 10 January 2009

References 

  1. NHTSA . Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes: An Update. DOT HS 810 606 Technical Report. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 2006;
  2. NHTSA . Motorcycle Helmet Use Laws. DOT HS 810 887W. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 2008;
  3. Liu BC, Ivers R, Norton R, et al. Helmets for preventing injury in motorcycle riders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(2):CD004333
  4. Holtz GA, Cohn SM, Mishkin D, et al. Outcome of motorcycle riders at one year post-injury. Traffic Inj Prev. 2004;5:87
  5. Professional ICD-9-CM Manual for Hospitals, Ingenix USA 2005.
  6. Committee on Trauma, American College of Surgeons. NTDB Version 7.1. Chicago, IL 2008. The content reproduced from the NTDB remains the full and exclusive copyrighted property of the American College of Surgeons. The American College of Surgeons is not responsible for any claims arising from works based on the original data, text, tables, or figures.
  7. Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. The Abbreviated Injury Scale; 1985 and 1990 revisions. Des Plaines, IL.
  8. Guide for the Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation (Including the FIM Instrument), Version 5.1. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo; 1997;
  9. Baker SP, O'Neill B. The injury severity score: An update. J Trauma. 1976;16:882
  10. Haider AH, Chang DC, Haut ER, et al. Mechanism of injury predicts patient mortality and impairment after blunt trauma. J Surg Res. 2008 May 6;
  11. Sperry JL. Minei JP Gender dimorphism following injury: Making the connection from bench to bedside. J Leukoc Biol. 2008;83:499;Epub 2007 Sep 25 Review
  12. Haider AH, Efron DT, Haut ER, et al. Mortality in adolescent girls versusboys following traumatic shock: An analysis of the National Pediatric Trauma Registry. Arch Surg. 2007;142:875;discussion 879
  13. Haider AH, Chang DC, Efron DT, et al. Race and insurance status as risk factors for trauma mortality: Not all black and white. Arch Surg. 2008;(in press). National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB version 7.0)
  14. StataCorp . Stata Statistical Software: Release 10. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP; 2007;
  15. Hurt HH, Ouellet JV, Thom DR. Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Traffic Safety Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
  16. Houston DJ, Richardson LE. Motorcyclist fatality rates and mandatory helmet-use laws. Accid Anal Prev. 2008;40:200;Epub 2007 Jun 18
  17. Sarkar S, Peek C, Kraus JF. Fatal injuries in motorcycle riders according to helmet use. J Trauma. 1995;38:242
  18. Kasantikul V, Ouellet JV, Smith T. Head and neck injuries in fatal motorcycle collisions as determined by detailed autopsy. Traffic Inj Prev. 2003;4:255
  19. Johnson S, Walker J. The crash outcome data evaluation system (CODES) NHTSA Technical Report. Washington DC: Research and Development, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 1996 Jan. Report No: DOT HS
  20. Proscia N, Sullivan T, Cuff S, et al. The effects of motorcycle helmet use between hospitals in states with and without a mandatory helmet law. Conn Med 2002;66:195. Erratum in. Conn Med. 2002;66:307
  21. Bledsoe GH, Li G. Trends in Arkansas motorcycle trauma after helmet law repeal. South Med J. 2005;98:436
  22. Mertz KJ, Weiss HB. Changes in motorcycle-related head injury deaths, hospitalizations, and hospital charges following repeal of Pennsylvania's mandatory motorcycle helmet law. Am J Public Health. 2008;98:1464
  23. Kardooni S, Haut ER, Chang DC, et al. Hazards of benchmarking complications with the National Trauma Data Bank: Numerators in search of denominators. J Trauma. 2008;64:273;discussion 277
  24. Sauter C, Zhu S, Allen S, Hargarten S, Layde PM. Increased risk of death or disability in unhelmeted Wisconsin motorcyclists. WMJ. 2005;104:39
  25. Zambon F, Hasselberg M. Factors affecting the severity of injuries among young motorcyclists–A Swedish nationwide cohort study. Traffic Inj Prev. 2006;7:143

PII: S0022-4804(09)00355-2

doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2009.06.034

Journal of Surgical Research
Volume 158, Issue 1 , Pages 1-5 , January 2010

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution