title: Safety restraint use linked to hospital use and charges in Arkansas.
abstract: Crash data from 2001-2005 was linked to hospital discharge data to determine the impact of safety restraint use on crashed-related hospital charges and use for 4013 hospitalizations. Safety restraint use, year of hospitalization and age group affected the hospital charges and length of stay after a crash. Mean hospital charges were 44% greater for unrestrained patients ($44,736 versus $30,990); mean length of stay was 23% longer for the unrestrained (9.2 days versus 7.5 days). Lack of safety restraint use was associated with greater use of hospital resources. Prevention efforts should focus on increasing compliance.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Aitken
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Card-Higginson
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: Tsai Mei
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Yanzhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001131:Arkansas; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*