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The association between electric scooter riding position and injury characteristics
Ittai Shichman1, Or Shaked1, Shai Factor1
1Division of Orthopedics, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, affiliated to the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Background:
The popularity of electric scooters (e-scooters) and the shared e-scooter services as new means of transportation worldwide led to high numbers of injuries requiring emergency department (ED) visits. Private and rental e-scooters have different sizes and capabilities, offering several possible riding positions. While the rising use of e-scooters and their associated injuries have been reported, little is known about the influence of riding position on injury characteristics. The purpose of this study was to characterize e-scooter riding positions and their related injuries.
Methods:
E-scooters related ED admissions were retrospectively collected between June 2020 and October 2020, in a level-I trauma center. Demographics, ED presentation data, injury information, e-scooter design, and clinical course were collected and compared according to e-scooter riding position ("foot-behind-foot" vs "side-by-side").
Results:
During the study period, 158 patients were admitted to the ED with e-scooter related injuries. The majority of riders used the foot-behind-foot position (n = 112, 71.3 %) compared to the side-by-side position (n = 45, 28.7 %). Orthopedic fractures were the most common injuries (n = 78, 49.7 %). "Foot-behind-foot" group had a significantly higher fracture rate compared to "side-by-side" group (54.4 % vs 37.8 % within group, respectively; p = 0.03).
Conclusions:
Riding position is associated with different injury types, with orthopedic fracture rates significantly higher in the more commonly used "foot-behind-foot" riding position.
Practical Application:
These study findings suggest that the common e-scooter narrow-based design is considerably more dangerous, calling for further research to introduce safer e-scooter designs and update recommendations for safer riding positions.
