Head and face injuries and helmet use among injured motorcyclists with road accidents in ‎Isfahan, Iran‎

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The study aimed to assess the frequency of head and face injuries in motorcyclists who had an accident and to find out the relationship between helmet use and frequency of these injuries. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with multi-stage sampling method provides data on the injured motorcyclists with road accidents. Data came from a registration form which has documented information of each injured person who had a road accident and hospitalized in the biggest hospital of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran (Al-Zahra). All the registration forms were surveyed for hospitalization period, treatment costs, severity of injury, and date of accident during ۲۰۱۰ (n = ۱۶۲۶). Later, among the list of injured motorcyclists during the last ۳ months of the registration form, ۱۲۵ cases were randomly selected and interviewed by phone regarding occurrence of the head and face injuries and whether wearing helmet during the accident. Confidence intervals (CI), Chi-square, and Phi and Cramer’s correlation coefficient were applied. The ethical approval was provided. RESULTS: Accident by motorcycle was ۳۱.۰% of all road accidents. The frequency of motorcycle accidents was higher in the autumn and among ۲۱-۲۵ year olds. The mean period of hospitalization was ۴.۳ days and the mean of hospital costs was about ۹۰۰۰۰۰۰ Rials [about ۸۲۰۰ United States dollar (USD), in ۲۰۱۰]. Of motorcyclist, ۳۵.۰% reported they were helmeted when they had the accident. The frequency of head and face injuries was ۵۱.۰% among all the injured motorcyclists, ۲۲.۰% and ۷۸.۰% among the helmeted and non-helmeted motorcyclists, respectively (P = ۰.۰۰۹, r = -۰.۲۶۷). CONCLUSION: Motorcycle accidents comprise a large number of road accidents and cause substantial morbidity and financial impact for the community members. Head and face injuries are the most common trauma in motorcyclists, and the injury rate is higher among non-helmeted motorcyclists.

Keywords:

helmet , Motorcycle , Accident , costs , Hospital , head injury , Facial Trauma