| Popis: |
Using a bicycle helmet markedly reduces the risk of head injuries. The most recent systematic review and meta-analysis has documented that the use of bicycle helmet reduces the risk of serious head injuries by 60 % [1]. Given the large safety-gains from wearing a helmet while cycling, it is highly relevant to promote the uptake of bicycle helmets while also measuring how the prevalence of bicycle helmet use evolves over time across different groups. In Denmark, bicycle helmet use has been promoted in several nationwide campaigns targeting both the general cyclist population and cycling school children. Since 2004, the use of bicycle helmets among cyclist in Denmark has also been measured observationally in two different nationwide time series. One time series (termed 'city traffic'') consists of observations of cyclist across all age groups in city traffic. The other nationwide time series (named 'school traffic'') consists of observations in front of schools, and only includes observations of cycling children. This paper presents the results of these two observational time series, while also cautiously linking the increase in bicycle helmet use to campaigns that have promoted the uptake of bicycle helmets. This paper is structured as follows. First, the methods of the observational bicycle helmet studies are presented. Second, the results of the bicycle helmet observational time series are presented. Third, the discussion section assesses potential explanations for the increased bicycle helmet use in Denmark. The paper concludes that the use of bicycle helmets has increased markedly in Denmark. In 2004, approximately 6 % of the observed cyclists in city traffic used bicycle helmets. This number increased to 28 % in 2014 and to 48 % in 2021. In school traffic, helmet use among cycling school children increased from 33 % in 2004 to 60 % in 2014 and to 80 % in 2021. [From Introduction] |
