P3A360: Stationary Bike Injuries Prompting Emergency Department Presentation in Pediatric Patients: An Epidemiological Study

Background: The potential harms of stationary bike injuries in pediatric patients have been highlighted in the literature, but prior work is limited to case serieses and without population-level analysis. The purpose of this study is to examine the epidemiology of pediatric stationary bike injuries occurring in the United States over the last decade using a national database to identify the most prevalent injuries and the populations most impacted.

Methods: Injuries resulting from stationary bike use in pediatric patients (0-18 years) from 2012-2021 were identified using product coding from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database. Patient demographics, injury characteristics, and case narratives were examined to identify injury characteristics. National annual estimates of injury frequency and incidence were calculated using NEISS-derived weighting and the survey package in R. Univariate analyses were used to compare injuries among demographic groups.

Results: Study inclusion criteria identified 525 stationary bike injuries representing a total of 14,259±1,601 injuries with an estimated incidence of 7.01 injuries per 100,000 children. Pediatric patients sustained an average of 1426±336 injuries annually, with an estimated increase of 288 injuries per year (p < 0.01) after 2019. While males sustained injury more commonly, there were age dependent differences in the frequency of injuries between sexes (p < 0.01, Figure 3). The lower extremity was the most commonly injured body region overall, but children under 5 sustained a greater proportion of injuries to the head/neck and upper extremity regions. Lacerations represented the most common injury type overall while fractures predominated in the 5-9 year old age group. The majority of injuries (56%) were sustained not while riding the bike, most notably among children under 10.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the impact of stationary bike injury in the pediatric population is not insignificant and most injuries appear related to improper play rather than traditional exercise use. Gender and age-related patterns differed in regards to the type and mechanism of injury sustained. Children under 5 sustain a disproportionate amount of injuries to the head, neck and upper extremity. As stationary bikes grow in popularity, preventative measures should be considered to reduce injuries to young children.