It has been 17 years since Rivara et al published their manuscript on the “Epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury”. The authors reported on crash circumstances and preventive measures. Using data from their seminal case–control study on bicycle helmet effectiveness, the study reported on crash circumstances, helmet use and injury outcomes to identify prevention opp...

Objective-To determine the risk factors for serious injury to bicyclists, aside from helmet use. Design-Prospective case-control study. Setting-Seven Seattle area hospital emergency departments and two county medical examiner's offices. Patients-Individuals treated in the emergency department or dying from bicycle related injuries. Measurements-Information collected from injured bicyclists or t...

The issue of bicycle helmets is still controversial. Should all cyclists be compelled to wear a helmet, or should they be allowed to take their own responsible decision? In some countries, Spain among them, there is strong pressure to make bicycle helmets mandatory. Here, a cocktail of opinions, beliefs and numbers is administered to the unaware public who swallows it and mostly agrees that “th...

OBJECTIVES To assess the level of cycle helmet wearing among young people in two counties in the South East of England in 1994, and to identify the factors associated with helmet wearing. DESIGN Cross sectional survey in a convenience sample. SETTING Secondary schools in East Sussex and Kent. SUBJECTS Students in year 7 (aged 10-12 years) and year 11 (aged 14-16 years). Main outcome measu...

OBJECTIVE To determine the risk factors for serious injury to bicyclists, aside from helmet use. DESIGN Prospective case-control study. SETTING Seven Seattle area hospital emergency departments and two county medical examiner's offices. PATIENTS Individuals treated in the emergency department or dying from bicycle related injuries. MEASUREMENTS Information collected from injured bicycli...

This case--bicycle helmet effectiveness--is one of a series of teaching cases in the Case-Based Series in Population-Oriented Prevention (C-POP). It has been developed for use in medical school and residency prevention curricula. The complete set of cases is presented in this supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This case examines the cost-effectiveness of three interventi...