Purpose
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have seen an increase in popularity in cities across
the United States as a form of recreation and transportation. The advent of ride-sharing
applications allows anyone with a smartphone to easily access these devices, without
any investment or experience required. In this study, the authors analyze scooter-related
injuries of the hand and upper extremity.
Methods
The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried to look for
injuries related to the use of e-scooters between 2010 and 2019. Data collected included
demographic information, the location of the injury, the injury diagnosis, and disposition.
National estimates (emergency room visits in the United States) were calculated using
the weight variable included in the NEISS database. Miscoded reports were excluded.
As a corollary, Google Trends data were utilized to establish a correlation between
e-scooter-related injuries and the relative number of e-scooter hits on the Google
search engine.
Results
From 2010 to 2019, there were 730 e-scooter-related injuries reported to the NEISS
database. This corresponds to an estimated 26,412 injuries nationally during this
time period. The incidence of scooter-related injuries increased by over 230% (2,130
national injuries in 2010; 7,213 national injuries in 2019; relative difference 5,083).
Injuries most commonly occurred in patients aged 10 to 18 years (30.3%). The most
frequent site of injury was the wrist (41.9%). The most common injury diagnosis was
fracture (55.3%). Additionally, there was a correlation between the number of Google
Trends e-scooter hits and the number of injuries during this time period.
Conclusions
The incidence of e-scooter-related upper extremity injuries increased dramatically
in the United States between 2010 and 2019.
Clinical relevance
As novel e-scooter-sharing apps become increasingly popular, it is imperative that
users are educated about the risk of injury and that use of proper protective equipment
is encouraged.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 07, 2021
Accepted:
May 19,
2021
Received:
June 5,
2020
Footnotes
No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. All rights reserved.
