Mountain Bike Injury Incidence and Risk Factors Among Members of a Wisconsin Mountain Bike Club

Lin Zhao, MD, MPH; Margaret Nolan, MD, MS; Patrick L. Remington, MD, MPH

WMJ. 2023;122(2):121-123.

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ABSTRACT

Background: This study aimed to assess the incidence of and risk factors for mountain bike injuries among users of a local mountain bike trail system.

Methods: An email survey was sent to 1,800 member households, and 410 (23%) responded. Exact Poisson test was used to calculate rate ratios, and a generalized linear model was used for multivariate analysis.

Results: The injury incidence rate was 3.6 injuries per 1,000 person-hours of riding, with beginners at a significantly higher risk compared to advanced riders (rate ratio = 2.6, 95% CI, 1.4-4.4). However, only 0.4% of beginners required medical attention, compared to 3% of advanced riders.

Conclusions: More injuries occur among beginning riders, but the injuries are more severe with experienced riders, suggesting higher risk-taking or less attention to safety measures.

Author Affiliations: Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin (Zhao, Nolan, Remington).
Corresponding Author: Patrick Remington, MD, MPH, Department of Population Health Sciences, 610 Walnut St, Rm 1007C, Madison, WI 53726; phone 608.2631745; email plreming@wisc.edu; ORCID ID 0000-0003-0360-7097
Financial Disclosures: None declared.
Funding/Support: This work was supported by a grant to the Preventive Medicine Residency Program from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences.
Data Availability Statement: The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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