Evaluation of the Effect of Enforcement of Motorcycle Helmet Use —by ‘Disability Adjusted Life Years’ method

• Main Authors: Hsiu-Ju Tsai, 蔡琇如
• Other Authors: Chung-Fu Lan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41003967418629435915

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 公共衛生研究所 === 89 === The results of Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) show that in 1998, there are 5.8 million deaths attributed to injury around the world. Road traffic injuries are the 10th leading cause of death and the 9th leading cause of DALYs（disability-adjusted life years）. In Taiwan, road traffic accident is also a serious problem. In comparison with many other countries, the motor vehicle motality in Taiwan is much higher. Motorcycle-related deaths account for nearly half of it, and vast majority of fatal motorcycle-related injuries involve the head. Fortunately, enforcement of helmet use for motorcyclists was implemented in June 1997 in Taiwan. There are few studies evaluating the effect of the policy considering the quality of life or disability degree. This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of the enforcement of helmet use on motorcycle- related head injuries and on the motor vehicle injuries by DALYs method. DALYs developed by GBD is a composite method used to measure health status. DALYs combines YLLs（Years of Life Lost）and YLDs（Years Lived in Disability）. The data is collected from ⑴Nation Police Administration Ministry of Interior—for the deaths attributed to motorcycle-related head injuries in 24 hours after the accidents between 1995 and 1999；⑵「Head Injury Registry」—for the information about hospital stays, severity, and outcome related to motorcycle-related head injuries, and the estimations of YLLs as well as DALYs through outcomes；⑶Department of Health「Health and Vital Statistics」—for deaths attributed to motor vehicle accidents and the estimations of YLLs as well as DALYs through the cases.. The important findings in this study— After the implementation of helmet policy, the amount of motorcycle-related head injuries and the average length of hospital stay as well as the intensive care unit have all decreased. Severity was milder and outcome was better—the rate of“good recovery“ increased, and the rate of“death“ decreased. Besides, the policy can prevent about 11000 YLLs or 15000 DALYs from motorcycle-related head injuries each year. As far as motor vehicle injuries are concerned, the policy can prevent about 40000 YLLs or 50000 DALYs from motor vehicle injuries each year. In comparison with the results of GBD, before the implementation of helmet policy, the value of motor vehicle related DALYs / 1000 people which was 10.1 in Taiwan ranked second among the 8 areas of GBD. After the implementation, the value declined to 7.4 DALYs / 1000 people and was in middle among the 8 areas of GBD. To sum up, the effect of helmet and helmet policy on motorcycle-related head injuries and on the motor vehicle injuries is positive by DALYs method. In comparison to other countries / areas, we still need to make more efforts. This study can be used as a reference to evaluate the effect of injury prevention program and to make decisions.