Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11898937›Full record

ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2002

Effect of legislation on the use of bicycle helmets.

John C Leblanc, Tricia L Beattie, Christopher Culligan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation to increase helmet use: a systematic review.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2006
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. A descriptive study of bicycle helmet use in Montreal, 2011.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2013
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Head first: bicycle-helmet use and our children's safety.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2007
    Review
  13. Audit of an intervention to decrease cycle related head injuries in primary school children.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2006
    Article
  14. Bicycle helmet prevalence two years after the introduction of mandatory use legislation for under 18 year olds in Alberta, Canada.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2006
    Article
  15. Economic disparity in bicycle helmet use by children six years after the introduction of legislation.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2006
    Article
  16. Factors associated with bicycle helmet use among young adolescents in a multinational sample.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2005
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Helmet laws and cycle use.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2003
    Article
  19. Bias when using dead controls to study handgun purchase as a risk factor for violent death.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2003
    Article
  20. Risk compensation theory and voluntary helmet use by cyclists in Spain.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2003
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

John C LeblancDepartment of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
Tricia L Beattie
Christopher Culligan

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAbout 50 Canadian children and adolescents die each year from bicycle-related injuries, and 75% of all bicycle-related deaths are due to head injuries. Although the use of helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by 85%, the rate of voluntary helmet use continues to be low in many North American jurisdictions. We measured compliance before, during and after 1997, when legislation making the use of helmets mandatory for cyclists was enacted in Nova Scotia.

methodsIn the summers and autumns of 1995 through 1999, trained observers who had a direct view of oncoming bicycle traffic recorded helmet use, sex and age group of cyclists in Halifax on arterial, residential and recreational roads. Sampling was done during peak traffic times of sunny days. We abstracted data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program database on bicycle-related injuries treated during the same period at the Emergency Department of the IWK Health Centre, Halifax.

resultsThe rate of helmet use rose dramatically after legislation was enacted, from 36% in 1995 and 38% in 1996, to 75% in 1997, 86% in 1998 and 84% in 1999. The proportion of injured cyclists with head injuries in 1998/99 was half that in 1995/96 (7/443 [1.6%] v. 15/416 [3.6%]) (p = 0.06). Police carried out regular education and enforcement. There were no helmet-promoting mass media education campaigns after 1997.

interpretationRates of helmet use rose rapidly following the introduction of legislation mandating the use of helmets while bicycling. The increased rates were sustained for 2 years afterward, with regular education and enforcement by police.

Indexed as

BicyclingGuideline AdherenceHead Protective DevicesPublic PolicyAccidents, TrafficAdolescentAdultChildCraniocerebral TraumaCross-Sectional StudiesData CollectionFemaleHumansMaleNova ScotiaPatient Education as Topic

Identifiers

PMID11898937
PMCPMC99400

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.