Longboarding Has Greater Risk of Brain Injury than Skateboarding

A study presented this week at a public health research meeting in Boston found evidence, which is not at all surprising to me, that longboarders are at a significantly higher risk of sustaining brain trauma than those who use a regular skateboard.  Longboards are longer and wider than regular skateboards.  They are built to go down large hills at high rates of speed.  The study of 824 people was conducted between 2006 and 2011 at a trauma center in Utah.  The average age of patients seen in the trauma center for injuries related to boarding was 19.  Of those patients, 57.5 percent were injured on a longboard, as opposed to a skateboard.  While that is not much of a difference, the longboarders were at a much greater risk of head fracture, traumatic brain injury and bleeding inside the skull (intracranial hemorrhage) than the skateboarders.  Among longboarders, 8 percent had a head fracture, 31 percent had a traumatic brain injury and 14 percent had an intracranial hemorrhage.  Among skateboarders, 0.5 percent had a head fracture, 12 percent had a traumatic brain injury, and none had an intracranial hemorrhage.