Background: In Switzerland there are about 150,000 equestrians. Horse related injuries, including head and spinal\r\ninjuries, are frequently treated at our level I trauma centre.\r\nObjectives: To analyse injury patterns, protective factors, and risk factors related to horse riding, and to define\r\ngroups of safer riders and those at greater risk\r\nMethods: We present a retrospective and a case-control survey at conducted a tertiary trauma centre in Bern,\r\nSwitzerland.\r\nInjured equestrians from July 2000 - June 2006 were retrospectively classified by injury pattern and neurological\r\nsymptoms. Injured equestrians from July-December 2008 were prospectively collected using a questionnaire with\r\n17 variables. The same questionnaire was applied in non-injured controls. Multiple logistic regression was\r\nperformed, and combined risk factors were calculated using inference trees.\r\nResults\r\nRetrospective survey: A total of 528 injuries occured in 365 patients. The injury pattern revealed as follows:\r\nextremities (32%: upper 17%, lower 15%), head (24%), spine (14%), thorax (9%), face (9%), pelvis (7%) and abdomen\r\n(2%). Two injuries were fatal. One case resulted in quadriplegia, one in paraplegia.\r\nCase-control survey: 61 patients and 102 controls (patients: 72% female, 28% male; controls: 63% female, 37% male)\r\nwere included. Falls were most frequent (65%), followed by horse kicks (19%) and horse bites (2%). Variables\r\nstatistically significant for the controls were: Older age (p = 0.015), male gender (p = 0.04) and holding a diploma\r\nin horse riding (p = 0.004). Inference trees revealed typical groups less and more likely to suffer injury.\r\nConclusions: Experience with riding and having passed a diploma in horse riding seem to be protective factors.\r\nEducational levels and injury risk should be graded within an educational level-injury risk index.
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