E-scooter injuries, hospital charges may be increasing annually
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Key takeaways:
- E-scooter injuries and hospital charges increased significantly between 2018 and 2023.
- Injuries at night and injuries associated with alcohol intoxication were associated with increased hospital charges.
Mean annual incidence of e-scooter injuries has increased nearly fivefold from 2018 to 2023, while mean annual hospital charges increased twofold during this period, according to published results.
Riley Kahan, MS, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues performed a retrospective study of data from 2,424 patients (median age, 30 years) who presented to a level-1 trauma center with e-scooter injuries between January 2020 and November 2023.
Kahan and colleagues compared trends such as annual incidence, hospital charges and time of injury with a previously published cohort of 197 patients who presented to the same level-1 trauma center between August 2018 and February 2020. They also compared hospital charges from e-scooter injuries associated with alcohol intoxication vs. no alcohol intoxication.
According to the study, mean annual incidence of e-scooter injuries increased from 131 between 2018 and 2020 to 619 between 2020 and 2023, representing nearly a fivefold increase.
Total hospital charges increased from $7.6 million between 2018 and 2020 to $40.8 million between 2020 and 2023. Kahan and colleagues noted mean annual hospital charges increased from $5 million between 2018 and 2020 to $10.4 million between 2020 and 2023, representing roughly a twofold increase.
In addition, Kahan and colleagues found 44% of e-scooter injuries occurred on the weekend and 45% of e-scooter injuries occurred between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. They noted e-scooter injuries that occurred between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. were associated with the highest hospital charges compared with those that occurred at 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. They also noted hospital charges were higher for e-scooter injuries associated with alcohol intoxication ($13,404) vs. injuries not associated with alcohol intoxication ($6,132).
“These results may help inform e-scooter awareness initiatives and policy reform to place restrictions on e-scooter use during periods of highest injury frequency and health care charges,” Kahan and colleagues wrote in the study.
Reference:
McNulty M, et al. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2022:doi:10.5435/JAAOS-D-21-00838.
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