TY - JOUR PY - 2004// TI - Car occupant death according to the restraint use of other occupants: a matched cohort study JO - JAMA journal of the American Medical Association A1 - Rivara, Frederick P. A1 - Cummings, P. SP - 343 EP - 349 VL - 291 IS - 3 N2 - CONTEXT: A car occupant could be killed if struck by another occupant who was catapulted forward, backward, or sideways in a crash. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between death of a car occupant (the target) and restraint use by other occupants. DESIGN: Matched-pair cohort study comparing the outcomes of 2 target occupants in the same passenger car that crashed. SETTING: United States traffic crashes in 1988-2000, using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. SUBJECTS: Target pairs, at least 1 of whom died: 61,834 front-seat pairs, 5,278 rear-seat pairs, and 21 127 pairs on the left or right side. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Adjusted risk ratio (RR) for death within 30 days of a crash. RESULTS: The risk of death was greater for a restrained front target occupant in front of an unrestrained occupant compared with a restrained front target in front of a restrained occupant (adjusted RR, 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.31). For a restrained rear target occupant behind an unrestrained occupant compared with a restrained rear target occupant behind a restrained occupant, the adjusted RR was 1.22 (95% CI, 1.10-1.36). For a restrained side target occupant sitting next to an unrestrained occupant compared with a restrained side target occupant sitting next to a restrained occupant, the adjusted RR was 1.15 (95% CI, 1.08-1.22). Among unrestrained target occupants, the adjusted RRs were, for front targets, 1.04 (95% CI, 0.97-1.12), rear targets, 1.22 (95% CI, 1.10-1.36), and side targets, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.80-0.92). CONCLUSION: Persons who wish to reduce their risk of death in a crash should wear their own restraint and should ask others in the same car to use their restraints. LA - SN - 0098-7484 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.291.3.343 ID - ref1 ER -