The role and importance of helmet use in the prevention of traumatic brain injury – a literature review

Abstract

Protective helmets are used in a wide range of professional, sport and recreational activities. They undoubtedly play a very important role in the prevention of head injuries, including traumatic brain injury. There is no doubt that they improve user safety. The main aim of the following paper is to analyse recent publications and studies describing to what extent a helmet can protect against traumatic brain injury and its consequences. Traumatic brain injury is the disruption of brain function or the presence of any other pathology in the brain caused by physical force. There are many head injuries worldwide that result in traumatic brain injury. The effects of these accidents can be reduced by using safety helmets. Statistics quite clearly show that helmets realistically reduce the number of traumatic brain injuries, as well as their consequences. Injuries sustained by people who wore a helmet on their head at the time of the accident were less severe, gave less serious complications and were also less likely to be fatal compared to injuries acquired when a helmet was not worn on the head. The wearing of helmets has been made compulsory in many places and this has had a significant impact on the decrease in the incidence of severe brain injuries. The use of protective helmets is correlated with milder and less frequent head injuries and fewer complications of these injuries. Public awareness of traumatic brain injury is still low. Although the benefits of wearing helmets are widely known, there are still many people who do not use this method of head injury prevention. Awareness campaigns, notification systems or other innovative methods are just a few of the many ways in which attempts are made to draw the public’s attention to the need to wear a helmet during activities with a higher risk of head injury.