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 People in car accidents who were using those protective devices were
18 to 53 percent less likely to end up at a trauma center with a
facial fracture compared to people not using the devices,
researchers found.
Studies from the 1980s and early 2000s also found that seat belts
and airbags cut the risk of facial fractures, but the new study's
senior author said a lot has changed since then.
"There have been advances in airbag technology and seat belt and
airbag legislation," said Dr. Scott Chaiet, of the University of
Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. "As time goes by, older
cars also get off the road."
To get an updated view on whether airbags and seat belts were
protecting people's faces, the researchers used information
collected by the National Trauma Data Bank from 2007 through 2012.
Of the 518,106 people taken to U.S. trauma centers after car
accidents during that period, 56,422 had at least one facial
fracture. Broken noses were most common, follow by midface and other
fractures, the researchers report in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.
Among those with facial fractures, about 6 percent were using an
airbag, about 27 percent only had a seat belt and about 9 percent
had both.
Compared to when people had no protection from airbags or seat belts
during their accidents, facial fractures were 18 percent less likely
when people had only an airbag, 43 percent less likely when they
just wore a seat belt, and 53 percent less likely when they used
both devices.
"When you use both together, the risk reduction is much greater,"
said Chaiet, who worked on the research while at the University of
Wisconsin in Madison.
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People's fears that airbags could add to the damage are unfounded,
Chaiet told Reuters Health.
There was no evidence that airbags increased the risk of facial
fracture, he said.
In this study, at least, the use of protective devices increased
over time. Simultaneously, the frequency of facial fractures fell
slightly, from 10.7 percent to 10.5 percent.
"It appears the use of airbag, seatbelt and the combination are
going up at least in regards to people who are showing up at trauma
centers," Chaiet said.
The next step for this research would be to prove that finding, he
said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2agaTJt JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, online
July 21, 2016.
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