BICYCLE INJURY HOSPITALISATIONS

AND DEATHS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1981-1995

Injury Control Program, Disease Control

Health Information Centre

Health Department of Western Australia

Prepared by: Peter Somerford Tom Pinder Giulietta Valuri Sylvie Price Dr Margaret Stevens July 1998

Click here for the Table of Contents     ISBN 0-7307-3810-8

 

SUMMARY

This report examines bicycle injury hospitalisations and deaths in Western Australia over the period 1981 to 1995.

Hospitalisations

During the period 1981-1995, there were 9,554 hospitalisations (including re-admissions and transfers) due to bicycle crashes. The rate of hospitalisations from bicycle crashes remained relatively constant, although the overall injury rate and the rate of hospitalisations associated with vehicle crashes decreased.

Demographic Characteristics

The majority of bicycle-related hospitalisations involved children aged 5-17 years. The 5-12 year age group was particularly over-represented, despite its rate of hospitalisations decreasing from 160 to 121 per 100,000 person-years over the study period.

Males accounted for about three-quarters of all hospitalised cyclists. Throughout the 15-year period, injury rates in male cyclists were consistently higher than in females. This was the case for all age groups.

Over three-quarters of all bicycle-related hospitalisations involved cyclists from the Perth metropolitan area. However, the rate of bicycle-related hospitalisations decreased steadily in the metropolitan region between 1981 and 1995, while the corresponding rate in rural areas increased considerably. Consequently, age-standardised bicycle injury rates in metropolitan and rural areas were virtually equal by 1993-1995, at 43-44 hospitalisations per 100,000 person-years.

Length of Hospital Stay

Injured cyclists spent a total of 41,548 days in hospital during the 15-year study period, averaging 4.3 days per admission. The average length of stay decreased from 5.1 to 3.3 days over that time. Hospital stays were generally longer for males and for older age groups.

Crash Type

The majority of bicycle crashes resulting in hospitalisation did not involve another vehicle. This crash type formed an increasing proportion of all crashes, rising from 79.3% in 1981-1983 to 84.7% in 1993-1995. Crashes involving other vehicles were more common in older age groups. Over the study period, the reduction in the proportion of crashes involving other vehicles was most pronounced in primary school aged children.

Nature of Injury

The majority of injuries sustained by hospitalised cyclists were head injuries (44%) and fractures (32%). Head injuries, in this context, include intracranial injuries, skull fractures and facial injuries. Fractures include upper and lower limb fractures, and fractures to all other parts of the body except the skull. There was a decrease in the proportion of head injuries from almost half in 1981-1983 to just over a third in 1993-1995, mainly due to a reduction in intracranial injuries. Conversely, the proportion of upper limb fractures increased over that period.

Spinal injuries, lower limb fractures, "other" fractures (ie. multiple fractures and those not involving the limbs or skull) and skull fractures were associated with the longest periods of hospital stay.

Crashes which did not involve another vehicle resulted in fewer head and lower limb injuries, but a greater proportion of upper limb injuries than those from a vehicle-bicycle collision. In terms of head injuries, "bicycle only" crashes had a lower proportion of skull fractures but a greater proportion of facial injuries than those involving another vehicle.

Overall, intracranial injuries were the most common head injury type, while skull fractures with intracranial injuries resulted in the longest hospital stays (12.5 days) among cyclists with head injuries.

Deaths

Over the period 1981 to 1995, 99 bicycle injury deaths were registered in Western Australia. The rate of bicycle injury deaths remained low and fairly constant throughout that period. Peaks in the number of bicycle-related deaths were apparent for 1986 (15 deaths) and 1991 (14 deaths), respectively.

More than half of the bicycle injury deaths involved school-aged children. Males were highly over-represented, accounting for 80% of these deaths, as were cyclists from the Perth metropolitan region (64%). Most deaths occurred when a bicycle collided with another vehicle.

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 October 1998 14:25