Spring 2009 Editorial

EDITORIAL: USING DATA FOR HELMET RESEARCH

“Data are what data do.” 

That was the watchword at a research institution where I once worked. It meant simply that data were only worthwhile if they are put to use. Too often researchers and public health workers collect data but then fail to analyse them. In one country I visited on assignment, I was excited to learn that the health department had collected several years of emergency department data. I thought, “What a goldmine. We can use it to measure injury patterns.” When I asked to see the data, I was shown a room that was stacked literally floor to ceiling with emergency department records. The data had never been processed, leave alone being entered into a computer, and they had never been analysed.

In this issue of Headlines, we have featured several reports that have made excellent use of existing data – analyzing them and coming to conclusions that add to our knowledge about helmets. Berg, in his report on trends in Swedish bicycle helmet use, mines the national hospital discharge survey data. Moskal, in her analysis of helmet-associated neck and spinal injuries in motorcyclists, used data from a regional trauma registry – that included all cases of trauma – to come to the conclusion that there was no association between these injuries and helmet wearing.  In the United Kingdom, data from an ongoing national health survey, provided Lang a basis for examining attitudes towards helmet wearing. Emergency department data were analysed in studies in Italy and in Nigeria to learn more about motorcyclists’ behaviour. We applaud these investigators’ efforts to analyse existing data sets.

The take away message – before conducting your research, take a look around and see if there are existing data sets that can provide the information you need. And if you must collect new data, make sure you do something with them!

Have a pleasant Spring!

Philip L. Graitcer, facilitator
WHO Helmet Initiative
info [AT] whohelmets.org

WHO Bulletin: special theme on childhood injuries and violence
This month's Bulletin of WHO is a special theme issue dedicated to childhood injuries and violence, a significant cause of child death, injury and disability.

Kids Get Their Helmets in Malaysia

France: Motorcycle Helmets and Neck/Spine Injury
Some say that the possibility of increased neck and spinal injuries is one of the reasons for not wearing a helmet. In a recent study from France’s Transportation and Safety Research Institute (INRETS), researchers found that motorcycle helmets do not cause increased neck and spine injuries. read more

Italy: Rome on a Vespa
There isn’t a more iconic image of Rome than one of a young couple riding through the city’s ancient streets on a motorbike, the girl with her arms around the boy’s waist, her hair flying through the breeze. Well, that’s changed. Now the young couples are wearing helmets. And head injuries have decreased, too. read more

UK: Attitude is important when it comes to helmets
Although there has been a great deal of effort in the United Kingdom to promote bicycle helmet wearing in children, there has been little success in getting a national law passed to require their compulsory use. In the absence of any law, what factors determine whether or not a child wears a helmet? read more

Sweden: Head Injury Trends in Bicyclists
Sweden has a long history of promoting bicycle helmets for children and has been conducting surveys since 1988 to measure helmet wearing rates in all age groups. Now, researchers at the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, have examined trends of bicycle-related head injuries. read more

Greece: Why don’t adolescents use motorcycle helmets?
Although helmets have been mandatory in Greece since 1977, compliance is low – around 20%. Motorized two-wheelers are pervasive - one in eleven Greeks owns one, and many of them are driven by youths between 15 and 24 years, whose compliance with the helmet law is extremely low. About 80% of youths who die in motorized two-wheeled vehicle are not wearing helmets. read more

United States: Novelty Helmets Don’t Work
In the United States of America (USA), helmet wearing rates are declining and states continue to weaken existing compulsory helmet wearing laws. As a result, for the eighth year in a row, motorcycle fatalities continued to rise. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – the USA agency responsible for traffic safety – reports that 14% of helmeted motorcycle riders are wearing helmets that do not meet the USA safety performance standard. Many of the helmets being worn are “novelty helmets.” They look like a motorcycle helmet designed for on-road use but do not meet the minimum safety performance standard established by the government. Often these helmets look very similar to other helmets that do comply with the safety standard. Sometimes the helmets are called “beanies,” “skullcaps,” and “German army style” helmets. read more

Nigeria: Motorcycle crashes – Implications for Control
In Nigeria – as in many low income countries – motorcycles are used for more than recreational or occasional transportation. They are integral parts of the transport system, carrying workers and students, acting as delivery vehicles, and serving as taxis. Because their uses are different, so are injury patterns – and the ways we might undertake to reduce them. read more