scholarly journals Medical Cost and Motorcycle Helmet Law in Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Chin-Shyan Chen ◽  
Tsai-Ching Liu

The objective of this study was to examine whether the implementation of the helmet law had reduced the likelihood of head injury and the associated medical cost in Taiwan. Data were taken from the 1996 and 1998 population-based data. In total, 888,179 and 921,058 effective samples were used in the study from the two years. Two different types of regression model were adopted to evaluate the impact of the motorcycle helmet use law on incidences of head injury and associated medical cost and hospital length of stay. The results reveal that medical cost is down by 11.5 percent and hospital LOS has fallen by 18.58 percent. Thus, with the introduction of the motorcycle helmet use law having had a demonstrably positive influence on motorcycle head injuries and fatalities, significant savings are clearly being achieved, not only in terms of economic and social costs, but also with regard to medical cost.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 686-689
Author(s):  
Catherine L Wilson ◽  
Emma J Tavender ◽  
Natalie T Phillips ◽  
Stephen JC Hearps ◽  
Kelly Foster ◽  
...  

ObjectivesCT of the brain (CTB) for paediatric head injury is used less frequently at tertiary paediatric emergency departments (EDs) in Australia and New Zealand than in North America. In preparation for release of a national head injury guideline and given the high variation in CTB use found in North America, we aimed to assess variation in CTB use for paediatric head injury across hospitals types.MethodsMulticentre retrospective review of presentations to tertiary, urban/suburban and regional/rural EDs in Australia and New Zealand in 2016. Children aged <16 years, with a primary ED diagnosis of head injury were included and data extracted from 100 eligible cases per site. Primary outcome was CTB use adjusted for severity (Glasgow Coma Scale) with 95% CIs; secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay and admission rate.ResultsThere were 3072 head injury presentations at 31 EDs: 9 tertiary (n=900), 11 urban/suburban (n=1072) and 11 regional/rural EDs (n=1100). The proportion of children with Glasgow Coma Score ≤13 was 1.3% in each type of hospital. Among all presentations, CTB was performed for 8.2% (95% CI 6.4 to 10.0) in tertiary hospitals, 6.6% (95% CI 5.1 to 8.1) in urban/suburban hospitals and 6.1% (95% CI 4.7 to 7.5) in regional/rural. Intragroup variation of CTB use ranged from 0% to 14%. The regional/rural hospitals admitted fewer patients (14.6%, 95% CI 12.6% to 16.9%, p<0.001) than tertiary and urban/suburban hospitals (28.1%, 95% CI 25.2% to 31.2%; 27.3%, 95% CI 24.7% to 30.1%).ConclusionsIn Australia and New Zealand, there was no difference in CTB use for paediatric patients with head injuries across tertiary, urban/suburban and regional/rural EDs with similar intragroup variation. This information can inform a binational head injury guideline.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafit Hamzani ◽  
Dror Bar Hai ◽  
Nir Cohen ◽  
Michael J. Drescher ◽  
Gavriel Chaushu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Electric bikes (E-bikes) and powered scooters (P-scooters) have become increasingly popular modes of public transportation, but they have been associated with injuries of all kinds, including dental trauma. Helmet use is promoted as a means of reducing injuries in accidents involving motorized and unmotorized vehicles. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of helmet use on the number and severity of oral and maxillofacial injuries caused by E-bikes and P-scooters. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used. The cohort included all patients referred to the emergency department of a tertiary medical center in 2014–2020 with oral and maxillofacial injuries involving E-bikes or P-scooters. Data were collected from the medical files on demographics, types of injuries, circumstances of occurrence, work-up, treatment, and outcome. Use of a helmet was recorded in each case. Results Of the total 1417 patients referred to the emergency department for E-bike and P-scooter-related trauma, 62 had oral and maxillofacial injuries, including 57 riders and 5 pedestrians. All had hard- or soft-tissue injuries; 20 (32.2%) had head injuries and 22 (35.5%) had dentoalveolar injuries. Eleven riders had worn a helmet at the time of injury (17.7%). Helmet use was associated with time of injury (weekday/weekend, daytime/night-time), type of motorized vehicle (E-bike or P-scooter), head injury, and number of bone fractures. Head injuries occurred more often on the weekend (57.9%) than during the week (20.9%) and were more likely to occur in riders who were not protected by a helmet (37.3% vs 18.2%). Patients who used helmets also had a lower rate of fractured bones (18.2%) and dentoalveolar injuries (23.7%) than patients who did not (68.8 and 37.3%, respectively). Interestingly, helmet use had no protective effect on soft-tissue injuries. Conclusions Helmet use by E-bike and P-scooter riders decreased the probability of head injury and of hard tissue and dentoalveolar injuries. These results may provide guidance for effective legislation and regulation of helmet use and improved treatment protocols for general and dental physicians.


2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (6) ◽  
pp. 640-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Han Chang ◽  
Li-Tung Chang ◽  
Guan-Liang Chang ◽  
Shyh-Chour Huang ◽  
Chiou-Hua Wang

The chin bar of a motorcycle helmet protects the rider from facial and head injuries. To evaluate the protective performance of chin bars against head injuries from facial impacts, an explicit finite element method was used to simulate the Snell Memorial Foundation test and a proposed drop test. The maximum acceleration and Head Injury Criterion (HIC) were employed to assess the impact-absorbing capability of the chin bar. The results showed that the proposed approach should be more practical than the Snell test, and provided more information for improving the chin bar design to protect against head injuries. The shell stiffness was important in determining the protective ability of the chin bar, but a chin bar with only an outer shell and comfort foam offered inadequate protection. An energy-absorbing liner was essential to increase the protective performance of the chin bar and the liner density should be denser than that used in the cranial portion of the helmet. For the chin bar with energy-absorbing liner, a shell design that is less stiff would provide better protection. [S0148-0731(00)01206-1]


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Latha Ganti ◽  
Aakash N. Bodhit ◽  
Yasamin Daneshvar ◽  
Pratik Shashikant Patel ◽  
Christa Pulvino ◽  
...  

Objective. To study the impact of helmet use on outcomes after recreational vehicle accidents.Methods. This is an observational cohort of adult and pediatric patients who sustained a TBI while riding a recreational vehicle. Recreational vehicles included bicycles, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), as well as a category for other vehicles such as skateboards and scooters.Results. Lack of helmet use was significantly associated with having a more severe traumatic brain injury and being admitted to the hospital. Similarly, 25% of those who did wearing a helmet were admitted to the ICU versus 36% of those who did not (P=0.0489). The hospital length of stay was significantly greater for patients who did not use helmets.Conclusion. Lack of helmet use is significantly correlated with abnormal neuroimaging and admission to the hospital and ICU; these data support a call for action to implement more widespread injury prevention and helmet safety education and advocacy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick M. Carter ◽  
Lisa Buckley ◽  
Carol A. C. Flannagan ◽  
Jessica B. Cicchino ◽  
Mark Hemmila ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 237437352110114
Author(s):  
Andrew Nyce ◽  
Snehal Gandhi ◽  
Brian Freeze ◽  
Joshua Bosire ◽  
Terry Ricca ◽  
...  

Prolonged waiting times are associated with worse patient experience in patients discharged from the emergency department (ED). However, it is unclear which component of the waiting times is most impactful to the patient experience and the impact on hospitalized patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of ED patients between July 2018 and March 30, 2020. In all, 3278 patients were included: 1477 patients were discharged from the ED, and 1680 were admitted. Discharged patients had a longer door-to-first provider and door-to-doctor time, but a shorter doctor-to-disposition, disposition-to-departure, and total ED time when compared to admitted patients. Some, but not all, components of waiting times were significantly higher in patients with suboptimal experience (<100th percentile). Prolonged door-to-doctor time was significantly associated with worse patient experience in discharged patients and in patients with hospital length of stay ≤4 days. Prolonged ED waiting times were significantly associated with worse patient experience in patients who were discharged from the ED and in inpatients with short length of stay. Door-to-doctor time seems to have the highest impact on the patient’s experience of these 2 groups.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e042140
Author(s):  
Vanessa J Apea ◽  
Yize I Wan ◽  
Rageshri Dhairyawan ◽  
Zudin A Puthucheary ◽  
Rupert M Pearse ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo describe outcomes within different ethnic groups of a cohort of hospitalised patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. To quantify and describe the impact of a number of prognostic factors, including frailty and inflammatory markers.SettingFive acute National Health Service Hospitals in east London.DesignProspectively defined observational study using registry data.Participants1737 patients aged 16 years or over admitted to hospital with confirmed COVID-19 infection between 1 January and 13 May 2020.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was 30-day mortality from time of first hospital admission with COVID-19 diagnosis during or prior to admission. Secondary outcomes were 90-day mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, ICU and hospital length of stay and type and duration of organ support. Multivariable survival analyses were adjusted for potential confounders.Results1737 were included in our analysis of whom 511 had died by day 30 (29%). 538 (31%) were from Asian, 340 (20%) black and 707 (40%) white backgrounds. Compared with white patients, those from minority ethnic backgrounds were younger, with differing comorbidity profiles and less frailty. Asian and black patients were more likely to be admitted to ICU and to receive invasive ventilation (OR 1.54, (95% CI 1.06 to 2.23); p=0.023 and OR 1.80 (95% CI 1.20 to 2.71); p=0.005, respectively). After adjustment for age and sex, patients from Asian (HR 1.49 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.86); p<0.001) and black (HR 1.30 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.65); p=0.036) backgrounds were more likely to die. These findings persisted across a range of risk factor-adjusted analyses accounting for major comorbidities, obesity, smoking, frailty and ABO blood group.ConclusionsPatients from Asian and black backgrounds had higher mortality from COVID-19 infection despite controlling for all previously identified confounders and frailty. Higher rates of invasive ventilation indicate greater acute disease severity. Our analyses suggest that patients of Asian and black backgrounds suffered disproportionate rates of premature death from COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fares Qeadan ◽  
Nana A. Mensah ◽  
Benjamin Tingey ◽  
Joseph B. Stanford

Abstract Background Pregnant women are potentially a high-risk population during infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, because of physiologic immune suppression in pregnancy. However, data on the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 among pregnant women, compared to nonpregnant women, are sparse and inconclusive. We sought to assess the impact of pregnancy on COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality, with particular attention to the impact of pre-existing comorbidity. Methods We used retrospective data from January through June 2020 on female patients aged 18–44 years old utilizing the Cerner COVID-19 de-identified cohort. We used mixed-effects logistic and exponential regression models to evaluate the risk of hospitalization, maximum hospital length of stay (LOS), moderate ventilation, invasive ventilation, and death for pregnant women while adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, insurance, Elixhauser AHRQ weighted Comorbidity Index, diabetes history, medication, and accounting for clustering of results in similar zip-code regions. Results Out of 22,493 female patients with associated COVID-19, 7.2% (n = 1609) were pregnant. Crude results indicate that pregnant women, compared to non-pregnant women, had higher rates of hospitalization (60.5% vs. 17.0%, P < 0.001), higher mean maximum LOS (0.15 day vs. 0.08 day, P < 0.001) among those who stayed < 1 day, lower mean maximum LOS (2.55 days vs. 3.32 days, P < 0.001) among those who stayed ≥1 day, and higher moderate ventilation use (1.7% vs. 0.7%, P < 0.001) but showed no significant differences in rates of invasive ventilation or death. After adjusting for potentially confounding variables, pregnant women, compared to non-pregnant women, saw higher odds in hospitalization (aOR: 12.26; 95% CI (10.69, 14.06)), moderate ventilation (aOR: 2.35; 95% CI (1.48, 3.74)), higher maximum LOS among those who stayed < 1 day, and lower maximum LOS among those who stayed ≥1 day. No significant associations were found with invasive ventilation or death. For moderate ventilation, differences were seen among age and race/ethnicity groups. Conclusions Among women with COVID-19 disease, pregnancy confers substantial additional risk of morbidity, but no difference in mortality. Knowing these variabilities in the risk is essential to inform decision-makers and guide clinical recommendations for the management of COVID-19 in pregnant women.


Nutrients ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 342
Author(s):  
Jen-Fu Huang ◽  
Chih-Po Hsu ◽  
Chun-Hsiang Ouyang ◽  
Chi-Tung Cheng ◽  
Chia-Cheng Wang ◽  
...  

This study aimed to assess current evidence regarding the effect of selenium (Se) supplementation on the prognosis in patients sustaining trauma. MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched with the following terms: “trace element”, “selenium”, “copper”, “zinc”, “injury”, and “trauma”. Seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that Se supplementation was associated with a lower mortality rate (OR 0.733, 95% CI: 0.586, 0.918, p = 0.007; heterogeneity, I2 = 0%). Regarding the incidence of infectious complications, there was no statistically significant benefit after analyzing the four studies (OR 0.942, 95% CI: 0.695, 1.277, p = 0.702; heterogeneity, I2 = 14.343%). The patients with Se supplementation had a reduced ICU length of stay (standard difference in means (SMD): −0.324, 95% CI: −0.382, −0.265, p < 0.001; heterogeneity, I2 = 0%) and lesser hospital length of stay (SMD: −0.243, 95% CI: −0.474, −0.012, p < 0.001; heterogeneity, I2 = 45.496%). Se supplementation after trauma confers positive effects in decreasing the mortality and length of ICU and hospital stay.


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