FRIDAY, May 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- During 2009 to 2018, there were 596,972 emergency department visits for bicycle-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), with the rates highest for adult men and children aged 10 to 14 years, according to research published in the May 14 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Kelly Sarmiento, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues determined the incidence of emergency department visits for bicycle-related TBIs during 2009 to 2018 using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program.
During the study period, an estimated 596,972 emergency department visits for bicycle-related TBIs occurred in the United States. The researchers found that during 2009 to 2018, the rates of emergency department visits were highest among adult men (aged ≥18 years) and among children and adolescents aged 10 to 14 years. There was a decrease by about half (48.7 percent) in the rate of emergency department visits for bicycle-related TBIs among children and a 5.5 percent decrease among adults.
"Such interventions as increased driver compliance with traffic laws and helmet use among riders, improvements in bicycling infrastructure, and customized interventions for males and other groups at high risk might help reduce bicycle-related injuries," the authors write. "Expanding implementation of effective bicycle safety interventions can help ensure that children and adults are afforded the benefits of bicycling while staying safe from injuries, including TBIs."
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