Characteristics and risk factors of bike-related accidents: Preliminary analysis

The growing popularity of cycling not only enhances self-efficacy, physical well-being and improves quality of life, but it also leads to the increasing number of bike-related injuries.

The aim of this study was to characterize the population of cyclists in Poland, assess the occurrence of safety behaviors among them and to precise the risk factors for bike accidents. Additionally, we analyzed bike-related injuries.

The survey was based on a 39-item questionnaire created for this study. We collected data concerning the demographical status of respondents, their cycling preferences, attitude toward safety behaviors during cycling, and the characteristics of bike-related injuries. Our research covered 729 people who declared themselves as cyclists (302 women - average age: 31.5 ±10.3 years; 427 men - average age: 32.6 ±10.7 years).

In the study, 71.3% of the interviewees declared that they did not always wear helmets. Women more often than men claimed that they did not always use head protection (p < 0.001). Among 729 people, 277 suffered from bike-related injuries. In this group, we noted 870 accidents that resulted in 1,671 different injuries. In our study, wearing helmets did not influence the region of trauma nor its type (p < 0.05). We noted 811 injuries of the upper extremities and 541 of the lower extremities.

Young men constitute the main group of cyclists in Poland. The risk factors for bike-related accidents in our study proved to be: educational level (secondary education and incomplete higher education), number of children (having at least 3 children), frequency of using a bike (the more often, the more injuries), type of bike used (mountain bikes and fold-up bikes), and frequency of using a helmet (using helmets was correlated with a higher rate of injuries). The upper and lower extremities were the most common location of injuries.