title: The effect of the Taiwan motorcycle helmet use law on head injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study evaluated the effect of the motorcycle helmet law implemented in Taiwan on June 1, 1997.
  
  
  METHODS
  Collecting data on 8795 cases of motorcycle-related head injuries from 56 major Taiwanese hospitals, we compared the situation 1 year before and after implementation of the helmet law.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After implementation of the law, the number of motorcycle-related head injuries decreased by 33%, from 5260 to 3535. Decreases in length of hospital stay and in severity of injury and better outcome were also seen. The likelihood ratio chi 2 test showed that severity decreased after the law's implementation (P < .001). Full helmets were found to be safer than half-shell helmets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The helmet law effectively decreased the mortality and morbidity from motorcycle-related head injuries.
authors.affiliation: Taipei Municipal Wan-Fang Hospital, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006260:Head Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009049:Motorcycles / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology