Causes and Circumstances of Horse Related Injuries and Impact on Quality of Life

Introduction and Background:

Horse-related activity (HRA) can be risky. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) estimated that in 2006, 68,060 Americans went to a U.S. emergency room with horse-related injuries (HRI), of which 5,676 were hospitalized. However, Thomas et al estimated that 102,904 people each year from 2001 to 2003 were treated for HRI in emergency rooms nationwide. In Oregon, horses are the leading cause of animal-related fatalities in Oregon and Oregon's annual death rate from animals is 45% higher than the national rate. In a survey of 679 Northwest equestrians in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, 81% riders reported at least one injury during their career, and 1 in 5 equestrians required hospitalization, surgery, or sustained permanent disability as a result of a HRI.

The long-term goal of our research is to develop a horse-related injury prevention program. Our preliminary study indicated that lower levels of experience were strong indicators of greater risk. The period of greatest danger appears to be during the initial 100 hours of HRA, with the incidence of injury nearly 8 times greater among novices as compared to instructors or professionals. The extent to which HRI is preventable is currently not clear, but it may be substantial. 64% of injured, experienced riders believed their incident was preventable and 47% altered their riding habits as a result.

Rationale:

There is a need to develop specific safety and prevention recommendations to reduce the number of HRIs. We intend to retrospectively determine what decisions, conditions, or other influential circumstances occurred that led to the subject's injury incident and to question the subject whether any measures could have prevented the incident from occurring. By interviewing injured equestrians, we may be able to determine patterns of decision-making and behavior from their collective experience and develop useful safety recommendations.