title: Impact of North Carolina's motorcycle helmet law on hospital admissions and charges for care of traumatic brain injuries.
abstract: BACKGROUND North Carolina requires motorcyclists of all ages to wear federally approved safety helmets. The purpose of this article is to estimate the impact of this state law in terms of hospital admissions for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and associated hospital charges. METHODS Hospital admissions of North Carolina motorcyclists with TBIs and associated hospital charges in 2011 were extracted from the North Carolina Hospital Discharge Data system. We estimated hospital admissions and charges for the same year under the counterfactual condition of North Carolina without a universal motorcycle helmet law by using various substitutes (Florida, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina residents treated in North Carolina). RESULTS North Carolina's universal helmet law prevented an estimated 190 to 226 hospital admissions of North Carolina motorcyclists with TBI in 2011. Averted hospital charges to taxpayer-funded sources (ie, government and public charges) were estimated to be between $9.5 million and $11.6 million for 2011, and total averted hospital charges for 2011 were estimated to be between $25.3 million and $31.0 million. LIMITATIONS Cost estimates are limited to inpatients during the initial period of hospital care. This study was unable to capture long-term health care costs and productivity losses incurred by North Carolina's TBI patients and their caregivers. CONCLUSIONS North Carolina's universal motorcycle helmet law generates health and economic benefits for the state and its taxpayers.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Injury Prevention Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. Rnaumann@unc.edu.
authors: Rebecca B
authors: RB
authors: Naumann
authors: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Injury Prevention Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors: Stephen W
authors: SW
authors: Marshall
authors: Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, Chronic Disease and Injury Section, Division of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
authors: Scott K
authors: SK
authors: Proescholdbell
authors: Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, Chronic Disease and Injury Section, Division of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Austin
authors: Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors: Kathleen
authors: K
authors: Creppage
mesh_terms: D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009049:Motorcycles / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology