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Changing pattern of child bicycle injury in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Author(s) -
Moyes Simon A
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01117.x
Subject(s) - medicine , injury prevention , poison control , occupational safety and health , emergency department , suicide prevention , bay , motor vehicle crash , demography , medical emergency , civil engineering , pathology , psychiatry , sociology , engineering
Aim: To determine if helmet laws and safety campaigns have had an impact on bicycle injuries in children. Methods: A comparison of the number of bicycle injuries presented to Whakatane Hospital’s Emergency Department in the period 1982–1986 to the period July 1998–December 2005. Results: In the first period there were 597 per 100 000 presentations per annum which increased to 890 per 100 000 per annum in the later period ( P < 0.01). Fractures increased from 115 to 234 per 100 000 per annum respectively ( P = 0.02). Injuries from a collision with a moving motor vehicle decreased from 72 to 30 per 100 000 per year and of those the proportion of serious head injuries dropped from 65% to 33%. There were four deaths in the earlier period but none in recent years. Conclusions: Injuries from bicycle use have increased but there has been a marked reduction in collisions with motor vehicles. This is a result of the changing use of bicycles by children.