Motorcycle protective clothing benefits & usage Presented by Liz de Rome

Summary of presentation 1.Motorcycle injury 2.Motorcycle protective clothing History Standards Rider usage 3. Effectiveness of protective clothing – previous research 4.Proposed research 2

1.MOTORCYCLE CRASH INJURIES 3

Motorcycling in Australia Registered motorcycles370,982421,923 Crash casualties Fatalities Hospitalised 4,523 na Injury severity Fatal / severe22% - 36% 4

Most serious injury ( n=921 ) ( MAIDS, 2004) 5

2.MOTORCYCLE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING 6

Protection from the weather 7

Protection from other motorists 8

Protection from making a fashion error 9

Protection from injury 10

Background 1970s-80s – research into injury biomechanics and protective clothing 1989 – EU Directive required protective clothing to comply with standards 1990s – Standards for motorcycle protective clothing developed New generation of protective clothing in the market. 11

Usage of protective clothing, NSW

3. PREVIOUS RESEARCH 13

Proportion of riders with injuries Hurt et al,

Protective clothing vs injury risk 15

Research findings Injured riders wearing protective clothing had: 43% soft tissue injury 60% less deep/ extensive soft tissue injury 7 days less in hospital Returned to work 20 day earlier 40% reduction in permanent physical defects. (Schuller et al. 1982, 1986) Fewer leg injuries. Reduce foot injuries Impact protectors reduce the severity of fractures. (Otte, 2002) 16

4.PROPOSED RESEARCH 17

What do we need to know? Research gaps Previous research was on old style clothing New generation protective clothing not evaluated No crash studies of impact protectors Information gaps Unclear how riders make their decisions about protective clothing What do riders believe about the value of protective clothing? What determines the types of protective clothing a rider wears? Where do they obtain their information 18

AIM of PhD research 1.To identify the factors associated with riders usage/ non-usage of protective clothing. 2.To determine associations between use of protective clothing and injury reduction in motorcycle crashes. 19

Planned research Two studies: 1.Cross sectional survey of novice riders and their usage of protective clothing. 1.Cross sectional study of motorcycle crash casualties, their use of protective clothing and injury outcomes. 20

Study 1 - Cross-sectional survey of novice riders Aim: to identify barriers and facilitators to use of protective clothing Methods: Survey novice riders attending compulsory licence training courses in NSW Provisional licence stage (serious about riding) Captive audience – high response rate Training centres across NSW to obtain representative sample. 21

Analysis Prevalence of protective clothing usage by novice riders Beliefs about benefits of protective clothing Examine by age, gender and other associated factors Potential to examine other key questions e.g. who they are, why they ride, how they learn, ownership/ access to motorcycle for practice, type of bike etc. 22

Study 2- Protective clothing and injury Aim: to examine associations between use of protective clothing and risk of acute and chronic injury in the event of a crash. 23

Methods: Cohort study Recruit motorcyclists presenting to a trauma/ emergency centre (n= 5 – 9 per week) Survey Protective clothing – type and impact protectors Crash details/circumstances of crash (Common international methodology for in-depth accident investigations) other contributing factors (e.g. age, gender, type of bike, experience, exposure and risk taking). Consent to access medical records: injuries type and severity scores Follow-up rider interview (6 months later). 24

Analysis Cross-sectional: associations between use of equipment and injury severity. Longitudinal: associations between use of equipment at time of crash and chronic injury. 25

Timeline Year 1 – 2007 Literature research Development of research proposal Courses in epidemiology & advanced biostatistics Study 1 Novice rider survey– Implementation Obtained support of training providers – Sept 2007 Pilot novice questionnaire – Oct 2007 Submit ethics approval applications – Oct 2007 Data collection – Dec 2007 – June

Timeline (cont.) Study 2 Rider casualties – development: Devise recruitment methodology - Sept 2007 Submit ethics approval applications - Oct 2007 Apply for funding - Oct 2007 Develop study materials, engage & train research assistant Data collection - March March 2009 Follow – up survey Sept Sept Analysis of cross sectional data - April 2009 Analysis of longitudinal data - Oct

THANK YOU 28