[Bicycle spoke injuries in children: accident details and consequences]

To describe the accident details and the effects of bicycle-spoke accidents on the physical and psychosocial functioning of children.

Retrospective, descriptive.

The parents of 87 children aged between 1-12 who came to the central casualty department at the Groningen University Hospital with bicycle-spoke injuries during the period 1 January 1998 to 31 October 1999, were asked to complete a questionnaire on the accident details, the quality of life and the functional health status (behaviour) of their child in January 2000.

Eighty-seven children fulfilled the inclusion criteria: 44 boys and 43 girls, with a mean age of 4.4 years (SD: 1.6, range: 1.4-10.2). Fifty-nine parents filled out the questionnaire (68%). A quarter of the children had been transported in a bicycle-seat (25%) and half of the children (51%) were seated on the carrier without any foot supports. Twenty-four percent of the bicycles were equipped with unbroken coat guards. The younger children (1-5 years of age) had significantly lower scores regarding motor functioning compared with the reference group (p < 0.001). The study population did not have significantly lower scores for the other quality of life domains compared with the reference groups. Eight parents (14%) attributed behavioural problems to the bicycle-spoke accident.

Not all children were fully recovered one year after the bicycle-spoke accident. The sequelae included physical as well as behavioural aspects of functioning. The bicycles lacked adequate protective measures.