MOTORCYCLE HELMETS AND SPINAL-INJURIES - DISPELLING THE MYTH

Study objective: To determine the relationship between spinal injuries and helmet use in motorcycle trauma. Design: Retrospective case serie s. Setting: Twenty-eight hospitals in four midwestern states-Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin-representing urban, suburban, and rural settings. Patients and other participants: Consecutive sample of motor cyclists treated at the participating centers. Interventions: None. Ma in outcome measures: The major variables evaluated were helmet use, et hanol use, and significant head or spinal injuries. Results: 1,153 cas es were analyzed. Helmet use was not significantly associated with spi nal injuries (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence intervals, 0.79, 1.58) whereas head injury was markedly decreased with helmet use (odds ratio , 0.35; 95% confidence intervals, 0.23, 0.53). Ethanol use was a signi ficant variable in both head (odds ratio, 3.89) and spinal (odds ratio , 2.41) injuries. Conclusion: In contrast to a significant protective relationship identified for head injuries, helmet use was not associat ed with an increased or decreased occurrence rate of spinal injuries i n motorcycle trauma.