Biomedical subjects

H Waclawik

Publications and source records attributed to H Waclawik.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1991

Physicians promoting bicycle helmets for children: a randomized trial.

Head injury is the leading cause of death and serious morbidity in bicycle accidents. There is good evidence to recommend helmets, yet few children wear them. We evaluated helmet promotion in a randomized trial targeting children presenting to primary care settings for routine ambulatory care. The intervention consisted of physician counseling and take-home pamphlets. The study involved 339 families, 167 in the intervention group and 172 in the control group. In a follow-up telephone call, 2 to 3 weeks later, only 7.2% of the intervention group had purchased helmets, compared with 7.0% of the control group (chi 2 = 0.0056, P = .94). During the latter half of the study, bicycle safety received considerable media attention in Ottawa, and the provincial medical society sponsored a $5 discount campaign. Therefore both groups were subject to community "co-intervention." Nonetheless, we were surprised that physician counseling made no additional impact. Our results and the success of certain community programs suggest that physicians interested in helmet promotion would do better to participate in the design and implementation of multidisciplinary campaigns.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Helmet promotion in the emergency room following a bicycle injury: a randomized trial.

Head injury is the leading cause of serious morbidity and mortality in bicycle accidents. There is good evidence to recommend helmets, yet few children wear them. Following a survey of children presenting to the emergency room with a bicycle injury, helmet promotion was evaluated in a randomized trial. The intervention consisted of physician counseling and take-home pamphlets. The study involved 334 children: 161 in the intervention group and 173 in the control group. In a follow-up telephone call, 2 to 3 weeks later, only 9.3% of the intervention group had purchased helmets, compared with 8.0% of the control group. Families in the intervention group received further counseling during the telephone contact, resulting in one additional purchase at 6-week follow-up. Evidence that a bike injury motivates cyclists to purchase helmets, and the influence of the self-administered questionnaire most likely account for the high purchase rate in the control group. Surprisingly, the helmet promotion intervention, including follow-up phone counseling, made no further impact. The results probably are best explained by a "double threshold" effect. Certain families were easily encouraged to buy a helmet, whereas others were far from ready to adapt this fairly recent innovation as routine cycling equipment. The findings suggest that physicians interested in helmet promotion would do better to participate in the design and implementation of multidisciplinary community campaigns.

Bicycling↗

PubMed1990

Bicycle-related injuries: a survey in a pediatric emergency department.

The number of bicycle-related injuries has risen significantly with the increased popularity of bicycle riding in Canada. The risk of injury is highest among children. To assess the magnitude of the problem and to identify the contributing factors we used a questionnaire, injury reports and patient charts to survey bicycle-related injuries among children brought to the emergency department of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, between May 1 and Sept. 30, 1988. The questionnaire was completed for 517 (91%) of the 568 children; 70% were boys, and the mean age was 9.4 years. Only 2% of the patients had been wearing a helmet at the time of injury, although 13% claimed to own one for cycling. Over 60% of the accidents were attributable to carelessness or poor bicycle control; mechanical failure and environmental hazards were minor factors. Over 80% of the injuries occurred within a kilometre of the child's home. Of the 97 children admitted to hospital 49% had head and skull injuries and 40% had limb fractures. Bicycle-related injuries represented 14.8% of all nonwinter (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31) trauma admissions among children 5 years or older. Our results further document bicycle-related injuries as an important childhood problem and underscore the need for improved safety measures.

Adolescent↗