Abstract
Introduction
There has been a spike in recent news regarding motorized scooter injuries due to
the expansion of scooter sharing companies. Given the paucity of literature on this
topic, the purpose of our study was to describe and quantify emergency department
encounters associated with motorized scooter related injuries.
Methods
The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried for motorized
scooter related injuries from 2013 to 2017. Patient demographics, diagnosis, injury
location, narrative description of incident, and disposition data were collected from
emergency department encounters.
Results
There were an estimated 32,400 motorized scooter injuries from 2013 to 2017. The estimated
incidence did not change significantly over time with 1.9 cases per 100,000 in 2013
and 2.6 cases per 100,000 in 2017. A 77.0% increase in scooter injuries was noted
for millennials from 2016 to 2017. Head injuries were the most common body area injured
(27.6%). Fractures or dislocations (25.9%) were the most common diagnosis. The most
common site of fracture was the wrist and lower arm (35.4%). There were no deaths.
Major orthopaedic injury and concussion were the strongest independent predictors
of hospital admission.
Conclusions
Head injuries were the most commonly injured body part, while fractures or dislocations
were the most common diagnosis. These results highlight the importance of using protective
equipment while riding motorized scooters, and lay a foundation for future policies
requiring helmet use.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 30, 2019
Accepted:
March 28,
2019
Received in revised form:
March 25,
2019
Received:
December 24,
2018
Footnotes
☆This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc.
