FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine®
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

READER SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT SON WEARS BICYCLE HELMET

Question: I know my son should wear a helmet when he rides his bike. In spite of my efforts to get him to wear his, he rarely does so. How great is the risk for him to ride without a helmet?

Answer: Bicycling is a popular activity in this country, particularly with children. Approximately 80 to 90 percent of children have a bicycle by the second grade, as does 30 percent of the total population.

Bicycling is generally safe, but there is some risk involved. Scrapes and cuts are fairly common, as you know. These minor injuries rarely require attention from a doctor. More serious cuts, broken bones and head injuries require a visit to a hospital emergency department. These bicycle-related injuries are then tallied as part of the risk in bicycling. Tabulation of hospital statistics shows three to seven percent of all visits are due to bicycle-related injuries. This translates into 600,000 emergency department visits every year including about 1,000 deaths.

The greatest risk of serious injury or death to a bicyclist is from head injury. If your son were to sustain a head injury and be lucky enough survive, he still might suffer grave consequences from his bicycle accident. He could sustain a concussion or more serious injury and be plagued with headaches, dizziness, emotional changes, memory problems or coordination difficulties. These could be present for weeks, or in the worst cases, they might last throughout the rest of his life.

When bicycles and motor vehicles collide, the bicyclist always comes out on the losing side. Twenty-five percent of the nonfatal bicycle-related head injuries and 90 percent of the fatal ones involve this type of collision. Overall, the rate of bicycle-related injuries in males and females is about the same, but males between 5 and 15 years old are at the greatest risk of serious or fatal head injury.

Wearing a helmet significantly reduces the risk of head injury, but to provide this protection it is important that the helmet be of good quality. You should only use one that has been accepted by one of these testing groups: ANSI, the Snell Memorial Foundation, or ASTM. A helmet must also be the proper size and be worn with the strap properly tightened.

I know it can be hard to convince your son to wear his helmet. I suggest that you try to convince him to do this by using all the tools of the parents' trade -- including the most important -- teaching by example. Always wear your helmet when you ride.

Bicycle safety instruction courses have also been shown to reduce the risk of injury. Many schools and community organizations sponsor these in the summer. I'd suggest that you make arrangements for your son to attend one of these, too.

Family Medicine® is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701.