Mortality in Recreational Mountain-Biking in the Austrian Alps: A Retrospective Study over 16 Years

Elena Pocecco (), Hamed Wafa, Johannes Burtscher, Peter Paal, Peter Plattner, Markus Posch and Gerhard Ruedl
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Elena Pocecco: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Hamed Wafa: Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Johannes Burtscher: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
Peter Paal: Austrian Board for Mountain Safety, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Peter Plattner: Austrian Board for Mountain Safety, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Markus Posch: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Gerhard Ruedl: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Despite recreational mountain-biking’s growing popularity worldwide, the literature on mortality in this leisure sporting activity is scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of fatal accidents as well as resulting dead victims during recreational mountain-biking in the Austrian Alps over the past 16 years. For this purpose, a retrospective study based on Austrian institutional documentation from 2006 to 2021 was conducted. In total, 97 fatalities (1 woman) with a mean age of 55.6 ± 13.9 years were recorded by the Austrian Alpine Police. Of those, 54.6% died due to a non-traumatic (mostly cardio-vascular) and 41.2% due to a traumatic event. Mountain-bikers fatally accidented for non-traumatic reasons frequently belonged to older age classes ( p = 0.05) and mostly (73.6%) died during the ascent, whereas traumatic events mainly (70.0%) happened during the descent ( p < 0.001). Throughout the examined period, the absolute number of fatalities slightly increased, whereas the mortality index (proportion of deaths/accidented victims) did not (mean value: 1.34 ± 0.56%). Factors such as male sex in general, above average age and uphill riding for non-traumatic accidents, as well as downhill riding for traumatic events, seem to be associated with fatalities during recreational mountain-biking in the Austrian Alps. These results should be considered for future preventive strategies in recreational mountain-biking.

Keywords: fatalities; accidents; severe sports injuries; sports epidemiology; injury prevention; bicycling; cycling; mountain sport; outdoor activity; alpine sport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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