Posted on August 6, 2001 at 2:00 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Physicians may play a crucial role in reducing the number of crash-related injuries and deaths by advising patients to buckle up, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The study, published in the July 2001 issue of the Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care, found that patients injured in car crashes were more likely to increase their use of seatbelts after the crash.
“Doctors routinely educate their patients about the benefits of healthy living but don’t usually encourage them use seatbelts,” says Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., assistant professor with the departments of epidemiology and surgery at UAB. “However, physicians may be in the best position to identify individuals who don’t wear a seat belt and to advise them to do so.”
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death related to injury among all age groups and are the leading cause of death among people under age 24. “The use of seatbelts by front seat passengers has been shown to reduce the rate of fatal injuries by 45 percent and of critical injuries by 50 percent,” McGwin says. “However, in many parts of the country fewer than 50 percent of residents wear seatbelts.”
The study — the first to look at changes in seatbelt use following car crashes — found that after a crash-related injury the percentage of patients who reported always wearing a seatbelt jumped from 54 to 85 percent. “Younger patients, particularly male patients, and those who suffered more severe injuries showed the greatest increase in seatbelt use,” McGwin says
Research shows that media campaigns have been ineffective at increasing seatbelt use, and government legislation has had only limited success. “Hospital-based educational programs directed towards HIV/AIDS prevention and domestic violence have been effective,” McGwin says. “Similarly, physicians advocating the use of seatbelts could be effective in increasing their use.”
The lead investigator of the study was Corey Passman, a second-year medical student at UAB. “The study was done as part of a research program we conduct each summer for medical students,” McGwin says. “We started the program a few years ago with just three students. This year we had nine students participate.”
Other UAB researchers who collaborated on the study are Dr. Loring Rue, chief of Trauma/Burns and Surgical Critical Care, and Allison Taylor, epidemiologist with the Center for Injury Sciences.