Prospective Study of the Effect of Safety Belts on Morbidity and Health Care Costs in Motor-Vehicle Accidents
- Elizabeth Mueller Orsay, MD;
- Timothy L. Turnbull, MD;
- Mary Dunne, MD;
- John A. Barrett, MD;
- Patricia Langenberg, PhD;
- Charles P. Orsay, MD
- From the Departments of Clinical Emergency Medicine (Drs E. Orsay, Turnbull, and Dunne), and Surgery (Drs Barrett and C. Orsay), and the Department of Biometry, School of Public Health (Dr Langenberg), University of Illinois, Chicago; the Division of Emergency Medicine, Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, III (Dr E. Orsay); the Department of Emergency Medicine, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago (Dr Turnbull); the Department of Emergency Medicine, Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago (Dr Dunne); and the Trauma Unit (Dr Barrett) and the Department of Surgery (Dr C. Orsay), Cook County Hospital, Chicago. Dr Dunne is now with the Department of Emergency Medicine, St Francis Hospital, Poughkeepsie, NY.
Abstract
To assess the impact of safety belt use on the extent of injuries sustained in motor-vehicle accidents and the incurred health care costs, 1364 patients were prospectively evaluated at four Chicago-area hospitals. Of these, 791 (58%) were wearing a safety belt whereas 573 (42%) were not. The mean injury severity score for safety belt wearers was 1.8±0.07 vs 4.51 ±0.31 in those not wearing a safety belt. Only 6.8% of safety belt wearers required admission vs 19.2% of those not wearing a safety belt. Restrained occupants incurred mean charges of $534 ± $67 compared with $1583 ± $201 in unrestrained occupants. Thus, safety belt wearers had a 60.1% reduction in severity of injury, a 64.6% decrease in hospital admissions, and a 66.3% decline in hospital charges. Our findings demonstrate the significant societal burden of nonuse of safety belts in terms of morbidity and the costs of medical care.
(JAMA 1988;260:3598-3603)
Footnotes
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Read before the 17th Annual Meeting of the University Association for Emergency Medicine, Philadelphia, May 20,1987.
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Reprint requests to Lutheran General Hospital, 1775 Dempster St, Park Ridge, IL 60068 (Dr E. Orsay).
