Background: Seat belt use is the single most effective means of reducing fatal injuries in road traffic accidents. The presence of a cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) might influence seat belt-related behaviors due to the physical proximity of the seat belt and left subclavian area in which the device is usually implanted. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of improper seat belt use may improve safety of these patients.

Methods: We performed a prospective study using a structured questionnaire with 120 CIED recipients (age, 63.9 ± 10.9 years) attending a pacing outpatient clinic. All study participants were active drivers and predominantly male. The majority of patients (79%) had undergone high-energy device implantation.

Results: We found that 18% of study participants do not fasten seat belts on a regular basis or use the seat belt in an atypical fashion (such as under the armpit). Moderate or high level of discomfort from the interaction between seat belt and CIED was present in 27%, while more than half (51%) were afraid of seat belt-induced CIED damage. In multifactorial analysis, we found the following independent predictors of improper seat belt use: (1) at least moderate level of discomfort at the CIED site (P = 0.02); (2) fear of CIED damage (P = 0.009); and (3) irregular seat belt use prior to CIED implantation (P = 0.037).

Conclusions: Improper seat belt-related behaviors are common in CIED recipients. They arise from previous habits and from CIED-related physical and psychological factors. Patients' education regarding the importance and safety of proper seat belt use is a priority.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pace.13617DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

seat belt
32
seat
13
improper seat
12
cardiac implantable
8
implantable electronic
8
belt
8
cied
8
seat belt-related
8
belt-related behaviors
8
cied recipients
8

Similar Publications

Introduction: In Uttar Pradesh, India, there are many fatal head injuries as a result of road traffic accidents (RTAs). Studying the pattern and distribution of intracranial hemorrhages, a frequent complication of severe head trauma might provide vital information on the efficacy of traffic safety regulations. To improve road safety tactics and lower fatal head injuries in Uttar Pradesh, this study intends to assess the effect of road safety measures on the frequency and distribution of intracranial hemorrhages in fatal head injury patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Although abdominal organ damage due to motor vehicle accident is often evident immediately after the injury and urgent operation is performed, it has been reported that minor injuries such as hollow viscus may become apparent during the course of treatment and require urgent surgery.

Case Report: The Authors present the case of a 42-year-old female who developed peritonitis immediately after undergoing surgery for thoracolumbar fracture-dislocation caused by a traffic accident. The patient exhibited no abdominal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, or abdominal wall rigidity, and had no difficulty with oral intake preoperatively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Partially temporally constrained modeling of speeding crash-injury severities on freeways and non-freeways before, during, and after the stay-at-home order.

Accid Anal Prev

March 2025

USDOT Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, United States. Electronic address:

Speeding crashes remain high injury severities after the stay-at-home order in California, highlighting a need for further investigation into the fundamental cause of this increment. To systematically explore the temporal impacts of the stay-at-home order on speeding behaviors and the corresponding crash-injury outcomes, this study utilizes California-reported single-vehicle speeding crashes on freeways (access-controlled) and non-freeways (non-access-controlled) before, during, and after the order. Significant injury factors and in-depth heterogeneity across observations are identified by random parameter logit models with heterogeneity in means and variances.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Innovative Seatbelt-Integrated Metasurface Radar for Enhanced In-Car Healthcare Monitoring.

Sensors (Basel)

November 2024

SDU Health of Informatics, The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, Faculty of Engineering, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.

This study introduces a novel seatbelt-integrated, non-invasive, beam-focusing metamaterial sensing system characterized by its thinness and flexibility. The system comprises a flexible transmitarray lens and an FMCW radar sensor, enabling the accurate detection and analysis of seatbelt usage and positioning through human tissue. The metasurface design remains effective even when subjected to different bending angles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Induction-based breathing sensors in automobiles enable unobtrusive respiratory rate monitoring as an indicator of a driver's alertness and health. This paper introduces a quantitative method based on signal quality to guide the integration of textile inductive electrodes in automotive applications. A case study with a simplified setup illustrated the ability of the method to successfully provide basic design rules about where and how to integrate the electrodes on seat belts and seat backs to gather good quality respiratory signals in an automobile.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!