Citation

Orsay EM, Turnbull TL, Dunne M, Barrett JA, Langenberg P, Orsay CP. J. Am. Med. Assoc. JAMA 1988; 260(24): 3598-3603.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Emergency Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, American Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3193590

Abstract

To assess the impact of safety belt use on the extent of injuries sustained in motor-vehicle accidents and the incurred health care costs, 1,364 patients were prospectively evaluated at four Chicago-area hospitals. Of these, 791 (58%) were wearing a safety belt whereas 573 (42%) were not. The mean injury severity score for safety belt wearers was 1.8 +/- 0.07 vs 4.51 +/- 0.31 in those not wearing a safety belt. Only 6.8% of safety belt wearers required admission vs 19.2% of those not wearing a safety belt. Restrained occupants incurred mean charges of $534 +/- $67 compared with $1583 +/- $201 in unrestrained occupants. Thus, safety belt wearers had a 60.1% reduction in severity of injury, a 64.6% decrease in hospital admissions, and a 66.3% decline in hospital charges. Our findings demonstrate the significant societal burden of nonuse of safety belts in terms of morbidity and the costs of medical care.