Statistical Information on Injuries in the Horse Business – Summary by Emmy R. Miller, PhD, RN
am a nurse working in head injury research. Someone mentioned that they didn’t know the statistics for
equestrian related head injuries. Well, have a few sources here and will provide some of them for you.
Sports Medicine 9(1):36-47, 1009
Synopsis: The most common location of horse-related injuries is:
upper extremity 24-61% (reported in different studies)
lower extremity 36-40%
head and face 20%
The most common type of injury is:
soft tissue injury 92%
fractures 57%
concussion 15%
The most frequent consequence of injury is:
hospitalization 5%
residual impairment 2% (i.e. seizures, paralysis, cognitive impairments, etc)
death 1%
JAMA, April 10, 1996, vol 275, no 14, p. 1072
Synopsis: During 1992-93 in Oklahoma, horseback riding was the leading cause of sports-related head injury, (109 of 9409 injuries or 1.2% associated with riding and 23 additional injuries attributable to horses) Of the 109, there were 3 deaths (3%). The injury statistics were:
males 55, female 54
age range 3 yr to 71 yrs, median 30 yrs
most commonly seen in spring and summer
48% occurred on Saturday or Sunday
95% involved riders who struck their heads on the ground or a nearby object after falling from the horse
4% were kicked or rolled on after falling from the horse
1% hit head on a pole while riding and fell to the ground
90% were associated with recreational activities
10% were work-related
107 were hospitalized with a median LOS of 2 days
79% had one or more indicators of a severe brain injury, including
1. loss of consciousness 63%
2. posttraumatic amnesia 46%
3. persistent neurologicsequelae 13% (seizures, cognitive/vision/speech deficits, motor impairment)
Among the 23 injuries not riding related, 21 (91%) resulted from a direct kick to the head by the horse, where died immediately and 2 required CPR. 13 of these injuries occurred in children less that 13 yrs old.
Journal of Trauma 1997 July; 43(1):97-99
Synopsis: Thirty million Americans ride horses and 50,000 are treated in Emergency Departments annually. Neurologic injuries constitute the majority of severe injuries and fatalities. A prospective study of all patients admitted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with equine-related trauma
from July 1992 – January 1996 showed the following:
18 of 30 (60%) patients were male
11 (37%) were professional riders
24 (80%) were head injuries and 9 (30%) were spinal injuries (4 with both)
age ranged from 3 to 64 yrs
patients died (17%)
2 suffered permanent paralysis (7)
60% were caused by “ejection or fall from horse”
40% were kicked by the horse, with 4 of these sustaining crush injuries
6 patients (20%) required craniotomy (i.e. brain surgery)
24 patients (80%) were not wearing helmets, including all fatalities and craniotomy patients
“Experience is not protective; helmets are.”
This last line is a direct quote from this article. hope you find these statistics helpful.
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