Paediatric e-scooter riders at high risk of life-threatening traffic accidents | Pediatric Research

Pediatric Research (2024)Cite this article

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This study presents the epidemiology and the development of e-scooter and non-electric scooter injuries in children and adolescents to highlight the nature and the severity of such injuries.

All children and adolescents with electric or non-electric scooter related injuries between January 2019 until December 2022 were included in this single-centre study and retrospectively evaluated. An epidemiological overview including age, sex, type of scooter, injury mechanism, diagnosed injuries and surgical interventions were presented. Further, statistical comparisons of the means and proportions of injuries and the number of surgical interventions between electric and non-electric scooter riders were made.

The study consists of 633 children and adolescents (9.1 ± 5.0 years; 231 female, 36.5%, 402 male, 63.5%). 80.1% (8.0 ± 4.1 years) used non-electric scooters, while 19.9% (14.2 ± 4.1 years) used e-scooters. In comparison, adolescent e-scooter riders were significantly more likely to be involved in traffic accidents (non-electric scooter: 16/507; e-scooter: 21/126; p = 0.0001) and suffered severe head injuries more often (non-electric scooter: 8/134; e-scooter: 7/37; p = 0.0217) than patients riding non-electric scooters.

Adolescent e-scooter riders were more likely to be involved in potentially life-threatening traffic accidents having a higher risk of severe head injuries requiring surgery compared to non-electric scooter riders.

Adolescent e-scooter riders have a higher risk to be involved in potentially life-threatening traffic accidents than riders of non-electric scooters.

E-scooter riders have a higher risk of sustaining serious head injuries requiring surgical intervention than non-electric scooter riders.

The data highly recommends the implementation of prevention strategies especially educating youth and parents and wearing protective clothing.

Legislation and law enforcement could help prevent such injuries and potentially life-threatening traffic accidents involving children and adolescents who ride e-scooters.

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All data generated and analysed during this study are included in this published article. The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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University Clinic of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Department of Trauma Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Andrea Schuller, Anna Hohensteiner, Thomas Sator, Lorenz Pichler, Manuela Jaindl, Elisabeth Schwendenwein, Thomas Manfred Tiefenboeck & Stephan Payr

Section of Pediatric Trauma Surgery, Department of Trauma Surgery, University Clinic of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Andrea Schuller, Manuela Jaindl, Elisabeth Schwendenwein & Stephan Payr

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Study conception and design was performed by A.S., T.M.T., and S.P. Material preparation and data collection were performed by A.S., A.H., T.S. and L.P. Analysis was performed by A.S., M.J., E.S., T.M.T., and S.P. The original draft of the manuscript was written by A.S. and S.P. Reviewed and edited by T.M.T. and S.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Correspondence to Stephan Payr.

The authors declare no competing interests.

This retrospective, single-centre study was conducted with approval of the Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Vienna (Code: 1178/2023) and according to the Declaration of Helsinki in its latest amendment.

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Schuller, A., Hohensteiner, A., Sator, T. et al. Paediatric e-scooter riders at high risk of life-threatening traffic accidents. Pediatr Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03667-6

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Received: 10 April 2024

Revised: 22 July 2024

Accepted: 29 July 2024

Published: 22 October 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03667-6

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