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2017 Annual Meeting

du 12 au 14 September 2017

Aurora, Colorado

The links below contained detailed information for the upcoming 2017 Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting, taking place September 12-14, 2017 in Aurora, Colorado.

Please note:

How Much is Too Much? Evaluating the Relationship Between Helmet and Substance Use Among Miami-Dade County Rider Fatalities

mercredi 13 septembre 2017 à 16:15–17:30 MDT
Aurora Ballroom 1
Learning Objectives
  1. Evaluate how alcohol and illicit substances – within legal limits - affect the decision to use a helmet in motorcycle and scooter riders.
  2. Evaluate reckless decisions among varying levels of intoxicated riders compared to sober riders.
  3. Demonstrate methods of intervention programs to reduce substance use while riding while improving protective gear usage in motorcycle and scooter population.
Statement of Purpose

The Survive the Ride program at the University of Miami is an intervention project that takes aim at trauma injury and fatality prevention. Here, we evaluate substance use and the effects they have on decision making among riders. We hypothesize alcohol and drug use negatively affects helmet use decision-making, and we address how legal limits affect this. Recent studies link alcohol consumption and drug use with decreased likelihood of helmet use, but fail to link quantifiable thresholds of intoxicants to multiple variables of the crash/fatality. We compare three categories of fatal motorcycle/scooter crash populations: sober, within limits, and intoxicated outside legal limits.

Methods/Approach

Autopsy and health records of motorcycle/scooter fatalities over three years (n=165) in Miami-Dade County were categorized into 3 populations – sober (n=62), within limits (n=7; defined as BAC <0.08%), and intoxicated (n=45; defined as BAC ≥0.08% or positive for illicit drug use) – and subjected to comparative analysis to determine how intoxication affected decisions for helmet use. Reckless behaviors were assessed in conjunction with lack of helmet use, evaluating cumulative effects on decision making. Chi-square is used to determine bivariate significance of substance use and safety decisions among included fatalities.

Results

Sober, intoxicated within, and outside legal limit populations were observed to be (sex as male%, mean age) 94.23%, 33 years; 100%, 40.4 years; and 93%, 34.8 years respectively. Roughly 90% of each population rode motorcycles, yet helmet compliance decisions waned with increasing degrees of intoxication; 58.73% (sober), 57.14% (within limits), to 35.56% (intoxicated). Mean BAC of intoxication fatalities (0.16%; StDev=0.07) was 8 times higher than within-limits (0.02%; StDev=0.01), and mean illicit substances (0.27 mg/L) detected in 38.6% of cases. Intoxicated were observed at average speeds 2.53MPH (StDev=16.01) higher than sober victims.

Conclusions & Significance to the Field

Motorcycle and scooter crash fatalities are a major public health issue that create a heavy burden on trauma systems.  For this reason, we chose to evaluate the impact of alcohol and illicit substances on decision making of riders involved in fatal crashes. We found that in motorcycle and scooter crash fatalities, intoxication was positively associated with decreased helmet use and increased speed. While some crash factors cannot be prevented, rider intoxication, lack of protective gear, and excessive speed are highly preventable through education. Our findings suggest that decreasing rider intoxication may improve helmet use, and programs like Survive the Ride—which utilize a teachable moment to educate patients about safe riding habits and the dangers of riding while intoxicated—provide multiple avenues of preventative care, particularly in states lacking universal helmet laws.

Presenters

Alejandro D Badilla, BS, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Biography

Alejandro D Badilla is a doctoral student and researcher at the University of Miami. His research entails injury prevention in motorcycle and scooter populations, a more vulnerable set of patients that characteristically are predisposed to more severe injuries among trauma crash victims. He joined the Survive the Ride injury prevention program in 2014, spearheaded by trauma surgeon Patricia M. Byers, MD, FACS. Together, the team investigates crash trends at the Level 1 trauma center and uses this knowledge in patient and prehospital personnel education interventions with the overall goal of reducing crash fatalities and mitigating prevalence of crash injuries. 

Co-Authors

Tara M Irani, JD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Dr. Patricia M Byers, MD, FACS, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Degino A Capellan, BA, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Dr Edward B Lineen, MD, FACS, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Yao Yang, MPH, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Danielle Rioux, BA, Florida International University/University of Miami

Primary Contact

Alejandro D Badilla, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
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