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Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2024;35(4): 301-308. |
| Investigating the trends and types of electric scooter accidents related to
alcohol use in South Korea: a retrospective observational study |
Dongyeon Lee1
, Kyung Hwan Kim1
, Dong Wun Shin1
, Woochan Jeon1
, Minkyung Oh2
, Sung-Hyuk Choi3
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1Deparment of Emergency Medicine, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Korea
2Department of Pharmacology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea
3Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea |
| Correspondence |
Kyung Hwan Kim ,Tel: 031-910-7119, Fax: 031-910-7119, Email: emdrkimk@gmail.com,
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Received: August 28, 2023; Revised: October 5, 2023 Accepted: October 11, 2023. Published online: August 30, 2024. |
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| ABSTRACT |
Objective:
This study analyzed the characteristics and accident patterns of electric scooter accidents using in-depth survey data from 23 hospital emergency rooms (ER) in Korea. The characteristics of accident types were examined depending on alcohol consumption.
Method:
An in-depth investigation was conducted on ER patients involved in electric scooter accidents between 2014 and 2021. The research focused on variables such as age, time of ER visit, alcohol use, emergency room discharge outcome, injury severity, and areas of injury.
Results:
One thousand nine hundred and sixty-two electric scooter injuries were examined. The riders belonged predominantly to the 20-39 years age group (60.40%), and most were males (69.67%). Visits to the ER peaked between 6 pm and 12 am (36.29%). Alcohol was implicated in 24.52% of the accidents. Head and neck injuries occurred commonly (60.70%). The number of accidents increased from 4 to 843. Moreover, alcohol-related incidents surged annually, except during 2014-2015. The alcohol use group comprised more males than the non-alcohol use group (79.42% vs. 66.51%). Accidents occurred more commonly in the 20-39 years age group (76.92% vs. 55.03%), and a higher proportion of emergency room visits occurred between 0 am and 6 am (58.84% vs. 39.43%). Cases with severe Excess Mortality Ratio-adjusted Injury Severity Scores were more frequent (29.29% vs. 12.97%), and head and neck injuries were more common (83.78% vs. 53.21%).
Conclusion:
The regulations for licensing, alcohol use, and helmet compliance should be enforced to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related electric scooter accidents in the younger population. |
| Key words:
Traffic accidents; Alcohol drinking |
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