The main objective of the study was to identify characteristics of injured bicyclists and to study to what extent these characteristics are comparable to those identified for other types of injury. A case-control design was employed and data were collected by questionnaires. The cases (n = 87) were persons aged 16-70 years who had been treated for a bicycle injury during 1993. The controls (n = 510) were stratified on age and gender and frequency-matched to the cases. Compared to controls, the cases were found to cycle more frequently and to own more bicycles. Furthermore, while cases were found to have less education than the controls, they had higher risk perception for environmental factors that might cause a bicycle-related injury. No difference between cases and controls was observed regarding the adoption of safety behaviours. The most prominent characteristic of the cases, those treated for an injury, was that they were overall more active bicyclists. Thus, persons that cycle often should be particularly targeted when bicycle injury prevention measures are applied. Furthermore, previously injured bicyclists reported higher perceptions of the risk of injury as compared to controls. The characteristics identified for the cases in the present study were equivalent to those reported in previous research for persons that have sustained other types of injuries. Consequently, injury prevention strategies that have been effective with other injury types may well prove to be appropriate in the prevention of bicycle injuries as well. (A)
Abstract