Changes in Pediatric Injuries Sustained While Engaged in Activities Where Helmet Usage is Recommended During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Unintentional injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI), are the leading cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality in the USA. Helmet usage can reduce TBI incidence and severity; however, the epidemiology of pediatric TBI and helmet use is ever evolving. With lifestyle changes potentially accelerated by the pandemic, we predicted a decrease in helmet utilization with an associated increase in TBI during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. There were 1093 patients that presented with AWHUR injuries from 2018 to 2020 with an annual increase from 263 patients in 2018 up to 492 in 2020. The most frequently implicated mechanisms included bicycles (35.9