Study demonstrates effect of helmet laws

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Serious brain injury resulting in long-term disability is more common among motorcyclists injured in states without universal helmet laws, a new study shows.

The study also found that motorcyclists living in states without helmet laws were more likely to die in the hospital from their injuries.

In 1995, Congress passed legislation removing financial disincentives for states without universal helmet laws on the books. Since then, many states have repealed these laws or changed them to partial use laws; for example requiring only riders under 18 to use helmets. Three states currently have no helmet laws at all, 27 have partial use laws, and 20 have universal laws.

To investigate whether state helmet laws had any effect on the type of injuries motorcyclists sustained, Dr. Jeffrey H. Coben, director of the Center for Rural Emergency Medicine at West Virginia University in Morgantown and colleagues looked at data from 33 states that represented 80 percent of all US hospitalizations for 2001.

They found that 16 percent of motorcycle riders hospitalized in states without universal helmet laws had severe head injuries, compared to 11.5 percent of those in states with these laws.

Riders from states without universal laws were 41 percent more likely to sustain the most severe type of brain injury, and also were significantly more likely to die in the hospital or to be discharged into long-term care.

"We understand that many people view this as an individual rights, freedom issue, but as a practicing physician I see the impact that these personal decisions have not only upon individuals but also upon their family and their community," Coben told Reuters Health.

"States are struggling with Medicaid budgets and how to constrain health care costs, and we think, if you excuse the pun, that this is a no brainer," Coben added. "These are cases that are quite preventable and for a young person that has a severe brain injury, that person could be on the Medicaid payroll for 50 years and have hundreds and thousands of health care dollars consumed."

SOURCE: Accident Analysis & Prevention