Characteristics of injuries according to types of personal mobility devices in a multicenter emergency department from 2011 to 2017 A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Personal mobility devices (PMDs) have emerged as new factors in motor vehicle accidents, and related injuries are increasing. We aimed to describe the characteristics of PMD-related injuries presented to emergency departments (EDs) through a cross-sectional study for 7 years. This study is a multicenter cross-sectional study using the Emergency Department-based Injury In-Depth Surveillance database in South Korea. We identified all PMD-related injuries from 2011 to 2017 based on text searching. We categorized them into 3 groups based on their distinguishable characteristics: electric standing scooter (E-scooter), electric self-balancing wheel (E-wheel), and electronic board (E-board). A total of 448 PMD-related injuries were observed during the observation period. E-scooter-, E-wheel-, and E-board-related injuries occurred in 284, 138, and 26 cases, respectively. Most patients were between the ages of 19 and 59 years (69.2%), men (66.3%), and injured because of leisure activity (61.2%). The mechanism of injury was mostly traffic accidents (75.2%), but regarding injuries involving E-wheel and E-board, 25.4% and 30.8% of patients slipped from the device. The most commonly injured body part was the head, which accounted for 58.1% of E-scooter injuries, 38.4% of E-wheel injuries, and 53.9% of E-board injuries. Only 6 of all patients wore a helmet at the time of accident. PMD users and PMD-sharing programs are increasing, and more accidents are expected in the future. As PMDs are convenient to move and more people are willing to use them, proper riding and safety rules based on the type of PMD are needed to reduce the risk of injury. The results of this study can be used as basic data for developing safety policies.