@article{ref1,
title="Prospective study of the effect of safety belts on morbidity and health care costs in motor-vehicle accidents",
journal="JAMA journal of the American Medical Association",
year="1988",
author="Orsay, C. P. and Langenberg, Patricia and Barrett, J. A. and Dunne, M. and Turnbull, T. L. and Orsay, E. M.",
volume="260",
number="24",
pages="3598-3603",
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.",
language="",
issn="0098-7484",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}