1: BMJ. 2003 Dec 20;327(7429):1459-61.  Related Articles, Links  

 
Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational
challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

Smith GC, Pell JP.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2
2QQ. gcss2@cam.ac.uk

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether parachutes are effective in preventing major
trauma related to gravitational challenge. DESIGN: Systematic review of
randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Web of Science, Embase,
and the Cochrane Library databases; appropriate internet sites and citation
lists. STUDY SELECTION: Studies showing the effects of using a parachute during
free fall. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Death or major trauma, defined as an injury
severity score > 15. RESULTS: We were unable to identify any randomised
controlled trials of parachute intervention. CONCLUSIONS: As with many
interventions intended to prevent ill health, the effectiveness of parachutes
has not been subjected to rigorous evaluation by using randomised controlled
trials. Advocates of evidence based medicine have criticised the adoption of
interventions evaluated by using only observational data. We think that
everyone might benefit if the most radical protagonists of evidence based
medicine organised and participated in a double blind, randomised, placebo
controlled, crossover trial of the parachute.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, Academic

PMID: 14684649 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]