Bicycle-related injuries in adults in the United States have increased by 28% between 1998 and 2013, and hospital admissions for cycling injuries increased by 120% during that same period, driven largely by an increase in injuries to individuals older than 45 years, according to a research letter published in JAMA (2015;314[9]:947-49).
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Dr. Thomas Sanford of the University of California, San Francisco, and his associates gathered data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to calculate population projections of cycling-related injuries in adults aged 18 years or older from 1998 to 2013. In that time period, the 2-year age-adjusted incidence of injuries significantly increased by 28% from 96 to 123 per 100,000 and the 2-year age-adjusted incidence of hospital admissions increased significantly by 120% from 5.1 to 11.2 per 100,000.
Older individuals made up a greater proportion of injured cyclists in 2012-2013, compared with 1998-1999, significantly increasing by 81% from 23% to 42%, and the proportion of hospital admissions in individuals older than 45 years increased significantly by 66% from 39% to 65%, the researchers noted. Overall, 35% of injuries occurred in women and there was no significant change in sex ratio over time.
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