A case-control study of the effectiveness of bicycle safety helmets in preventing facial injury.
D C Thompson,
R S Thompson,
F P Rivara and
M E Wolf
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104.
In a case-control study we sought to assess the potential effectivenessof helmets in preventing facial injuries. Our study included212 bicyclists with facial injuries and 319 controls with injuriesto other body areas, who were treated in emergency rooms offive Seattle area hospitals over a one-year period. Using regressionanalyses to control for age, sex, education and income, accidentseverity, and cycling experience we found no definite effectof helmets on the risk of serious facial injury (odds ratio0.81; 95 percent confidence interval = 0.45, 1.5), but protectionagainst serious injuries to the upper face (odds ratio 0.27;95% CI = 0.1, 0.8). No protection was found against seriousinjuries to the lower face. The independent effect of helmetuse on facial injury was difficult to isolate due to the associationof head and facial injuries. Our results suggest that bicyclehelmets as presently designed may have some protective effectagainst serious upper facial injuries.
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