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Motorcycle helmets and spinal injuries: dispelling the myth
E M Orsay1, R L Muelleman, T D Peterson
1University of Illinois, Chicago.
Study Objective:
To determine the relationship between spinal injuries and helmet use in motorcycle trauma.
Design:
Retrospective case series.
Setting:
Twenty-eight hospitals in four midwestern states--Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin--representing urban, suburban, and rural settings.
Patients And Other Participants:
Consecutive sample of motorcyclists treated at the participating centers.
Interventions:
None.
Main Outcome Measures:
The major variables evaluated were helmet use, ethanol use, and significant head or spinal injuries.
Results:
1,153 cases were analyzed. Helmet use was not significantly associated with spinal injuries (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence intervals, 0.79, 1.58) whereas head injury was markedly decreased with helmet use (odds ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence intervals, 0.23, 0.53). Ethanol use was a significant variable in both head (odds ratio, 3.89) and spinal (odds ratio, 2.41) injuries.
Conclusion:
In contrast to a significant protective relationship identified for head injuries, helmet use was not associated with an increased or decreased occurrence rate of spinal injuries in motorcycle trauma.