Wear a helmet when skiing, snowboarding, rollerblading, or mountain biking

When skiing or snowboarding, wearing a helmet makes the chance of a head injury in a fall or a collision about 1/3 lower, and for a child under 13 it makes that chance about 60% lower. When riding a bicycle, wearing a helmet makes the chance of a serious head injury about 70% lower, and makes the chance of a fatal head injury about 2/3 lower. Wearing a helmet did not make the neck easier to injure.

Benefit

The skiing and snowboarding figures come from a pooled analysis of 12 studies. Most of the studies compared people with a head injury to other people and looked at who was wearing a helmet (case-control). For people wearing a helmet, the odds ratio for a head injury was OR 0.65 (95% CI 0.55–0.79), about 35% lower. In the studies that included children under 13, OR 0.41 (0.27–0.59), about 59% lower. For a neck injury, OR 0.89 (0.72–1.09), not higher. The bicycle figures come from 40 studies and more than 64000 people who fell off a bike or were in a crash. Head injury OR 0.49 (0.42–0.57), about 51% lower. A serious head injury OR 0.31 (0.25–0.37), about 69% lower. A fatal head injury OR 0.35 (0.14–0.88), about 65% lower. A facial injury OR 0.67 (0.56–0.81), about 33% lower. A neck injury OR 0.96 (0.74–1.25), no link visible. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports says that after Beijing's local standard for ski resorts was revised in 2017, a helmet is required to enter an advanced run.

Notes

These figures are the chance of a head injury after a fall or a collision. A helmet does not make you fall less often. No pooled study of the same kind was found for rollerblading or skateboarding. Those are carried over by analogy, because the way a fall hits the head is similar. The helmet should fit the head, the strap should be fastened tight, and a rented helmet should be tried on first. For wearing a helmet on a motorcycle or an e-bike, see section 1, item 2 (wear a helmet).

Sources · 3

1. Russell K, Christie J, Hagel BE (2010). The effect of helmets on the risk of head and neck injuries among skiers and snowboarders: a meta-analysis. CMAJ, 182(4), 333-340. doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.091080
2. Olivier J, Creighton P (2017). Bicycle injuries and helmet use: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 46(1), 278-292. doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw153
3. 北京市体育局. 北京市政协十三届四次会议第1276号提案的答复意见：「明确要求滑雪者必须佩戴头盔方能进入高级道滑雪区域」. tyj.beijing.gov.cn/bjsports/zfxxgk_/1421305/j…