Number, severity of scooter injuries rose from 2016 to 2020, study finds

Key takeaways:

• Individuals with scooter injuries required major surgery more often than those with bicycle injuries.
• The annual cost burden of scooter-related injuries rose from $6.6 million to $35.5 million.

The number of scooter-related injuries in the United States nearly tripled from 2016 to 2020, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The increase was accompanied by a rise in the severity of scooter injuries, researchers reported.

“Considering the rise in the number of hospitalizations and major operations for scooter-related injuries, it's crucial to elevate safety standards for riders,” Nam Yong Cho, a third-year medical student at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a press release. “Advocating for improved infrastructure, including enforced speed limits and dedicated lanes, is also vital to minimize risks for vehicles, scooter riders, and pedestrians alike.”

The researchers used National Inpatient Sample data from 93,000 hospitalized patients to analyze trends in bicycle and scooter injuries from 2016 to 2020.

Overall, 6.6% of patients had scooter injuries.

Compared with patients with bicycle injuries, those with scooter injuries were:

• more often aged younger than 18 years (26.7% vs. 16.4%);
• more often injured during winter months (24.2% vs. 20%); and
• more often underwent major surgery (55.8% vs. 48.1%).

In addition, Cho and colleagues noted that patients with scooter injuries more often had orthopedic and plastic surgery (89% vs. 85%) and head operations (5% vs. 4%) than patients with bicycle injuries.

They also found that, compared with bicycle injuries, scooter injuries were associated with greater risks for:

• long bone fracture (adjusted OR = 1.4, 95% CI, 1.15-1.7); and
• paralysis (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI, 1.16-3.69).

The annual cost burden of scooter-related injuries rose from $6.6 million to $35.5 million during the study period, whereas the cost burden of bicycle-related injuries rose from $307 million to $434 million.

The likelihood of developing traumatic brain injuries and risk for mortality, as well as hospitalization length of stays and cost, were similar in both the bicycle and scooter cohorts, according to the researchers.

Cho and colleagues reported multiple study limitations. For example, they did not account for the use of helmets and intoxicants during incidents and could not ascertain the type of bicycle and scooter models used.

The rise in scooter injuries “may be attributed to the growing popularity of shared scooter services that have dramatically expanded since 2017 in this epoch,” Cho and colleagues wrote.

“While the overall severity of the injury is often greater in bicycle injuries, our findings highlight a potentially greater risk of long-term disabilities among scooter injury patients,” they wrote. “Further studies accounting for the granular details of collisions, such as intoxication status, distance traveled, and road infrastructure, are necessary to understand the risks of micromobility-related injuries comprehensively.”

References:

• Cho N, et al. J Am Coll Surg. 2024;doi:10.1097/XCS.0000000000000918.
• Hospitalizations for scooter injuries nearly tripled in the US between 2016 and 2020, UCLA-led research finds. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1030504. Published Jan. 9, 2023. Accessed Jan. 10, 2023.