SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Warren LR, Harley S, Dutschke J, van den Berg A, Dobbins C. ANZ J. Surg. 2017; 87(12): 1026-1029.

Affiliation

Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ans.13447

PMID

26924071

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine if wearing a bicycle helmet during ladder use could reduce the incidence and severity of head injury in the event of a fall.

METHODS: A headform model with inbuilt accelerometers was used to determine the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) score of head impact by dropping 41 helmeted and unhelmeted headforms from eight heights. These results were compared.

RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between averaged HIC scores in helmeted and unhelmeted drops (P < 0.001). Unhelmeted HIC scores ranged from 387 at 0.25 m to 2121 at 0.6 m. Helmeted HIC scores ranged from 29 at 0.25 m to 1199 at 2.5 m. At a height of 0.5 m, the risk of severe brain injury (AIS ≥4) from direct frontal head impact is predicted to reduce from >50% to <5% with helmet use.

CONCLUSION: There was a significant decrease in the HIC scores when helmets are used and it is likely that the benefits would be seen in the clinical setting. These results provide an argument for the use of a bicycle helmets by all ladder users, in particular those over age 50 who are at increased risk of head injuries. We recommend that bicycle helmet use be incorporated into ladder injury prevention strategies.


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print