By Nicholas Kevlahan Published October 16, 2012 Several recent
media articles have reported on a new study, based on 2006-2010
data from the office of the Ontario Coroner, finding that
cyclists who die of a head injury in a crash or collision were
three times less likely to be wearing a helmet than cyclists who
died of other injuries. The Globe and Mail reports: Researchers
looked at 129 accidental cycling deaths in Ontario between 2006
and 2010, using data from the Office of the Chief Coroner. They
found cyclists who didn't wear a helmet were three times more
likely to die of a fatal head injury than those who wore head
protection while riding. The study, titled Nonuse of bicycle
helmets and risk of fatal head injury: a proportional mortality,
case-control study [PDF], was published in the October 15, 2012
issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The study
notes that the researchers used an adjusted odds ratio to
analyze the correlation between helmet use and reason for death.
An odds ratio is not