This just in from a leading national research center about personal injuries involving bicycles and people under 20 years old. This includes automobile accidents where the automobile hits the bicyclist. The conclusion is that the injuries are much more severe than initially thought. For example, one third of those hospitalized are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. The question is whether there is a significant population which is not properly diagnosed with TBI. Here is the story:

Researchers with the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have released a new study that shows that injuries in those under the age of 20 that involve bicycles may be a much more significant problem than its has been thought to be. The study shows that injuries that are bicycle related and involve this age group equates out to about $200 million a year in hospital costs.

Those aged 20 and younger make up over half of the estimated 86 million bicycle riders in the U.S. It is a well established fact that injuries from bicycle accidents are the cause of more visits to emergency rooms for young people than any other recreational sport related injury. But, the study goes way beyond the situations with emergency rooms and looks at the number of bicycle related hospitalizations. They estimate that about 10,700 children become hospitalized each year for injuries from bicycles just in the U.S. The average stay is 3 days.

One of the most significant and important facts that they turned up is that motor vehicles are involved in about 30% of all bicycle injuries that result in a child being hospitalized and the percentage increases when they looked at the older children.

In addition, one third of the children who require hospitalization ended up being diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. This is very significant when you take into consideration that this type of injury may be very preventable if the child would only use a bicycle helmet.

One of the authors of the study is Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy, faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He states that the findings can and should be used to promote bicycle related injury strategies aimed at lessening the severity of the injury as well as the number of deaths that are the result of pediatric bicycle-related injuries. The use of bicycle helmets alone can reduce the risk of brain injury by as much as 85%.