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 Researchers write in JAMA Surgery that the results may be due to
helmeted riders being more likely to survive high-force crashes than
people who don't wear helmets, and ultimately end up with more
extensive injuries.
"The fact that injury patterns are different makes a lot of sense,
because the helmets are going to help you survive," said Dr. Adil
Haider, of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and
Women's Hospital in Boston.
"A lot of people have all these torso injuries because their head is
saved," said Haider, who wasn't involved in the new study.
While researchers knew helmets decreased injuries and death related
to motorcycle trauma, they didn't know whether or how the protective
head gear might affect injuries to other body parts.
The authors write that loosening restrictions on helmets in some
U.S. states allowed them to study how wearing head protection may
influence other injuries.
For the study, they used national data from 2007 to 2010 on almost
86,000 people with some sort of motorcycle-related trauma. The
researchers paid particularly close attention to the number and
extent of injuries to people's heads and necks, torsos, spines and
extremities.
Overall, the researchers found helmeted motorcycle riders were about
half as likely to end up with head injuries, compared to those who
weren't wearing protection. Helmeted riders were also less likely to
die.
Helmeted riders were more likely to have injuries to the chest and
extremities than riders who weren't wearing helmets, however.
Other than saving the lives of riders during high-force accidents,
another explanation for increased injuries to other body parts could
be that helmeted riders feel more secure and end up driving at
higher speeds, the researchers, led by Indiana University's Dr. Jeff
Lastfogel, write.
There was no difference in the time people spent in a hospital
regardless of whether they were helmeted.
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Dr. David Ripley, who was not involved in the research, cautioned,
though, that the study can't really say if people ended up going
home after being in the hospital. Some may, for example, have been
transferred to a long term care center.
"These people are still hospitalized, but they are not in the acute
care hospital," said Ripley, who is medical director of brain injury
medicine and rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of
Chicago.
He said that policymakers should consider the cost of additional
care for people who don't wear helmets and likely end up with head
injuries.
"From a public health perspective, policymakers should recognize the
increased cost associated with these individuals and respond with
the appropriate public policy," he said.
Additionally, Ripley said, he recommends as much protective gear as
possible - including helmets.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1LogIjO JAMA Surgery, online October 21, 2015.
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