Scholarly works in Community Medicine
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/12282
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Item An observational study of seatbelt use among vehicle occupants in Nigeria(BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 2009) Sangosawa, A. O.; Alagh, B. T.; Ekanem, S. E. U.; Ebong, I. P.; Faseru, A.; Adekunle, B. J.; Uchendu, O. C.Objective: The use of seatbelts reduces the likelihood of death and severe injuries to crash-involved vehicle occupants by 45e60%. Several countries, including Nigeria, have laws mandating the use of seatbelts but compliance is not universal. This study was conducted to determine rates of use of seatbelts among vehicle occupants in Ibadan municipality. Design: An observational study was conducted. A selected petrol station in each of the five local government areas in Ibadan municipality was used as an observation site. Observations were documented by trained research staff between 08:30 and 18:00 hours over a 6-day period. Results: 5757 occupants in 2870 vehicles were observed. Approximately 90% of drivers were men. Driver seatbelts were installed in approximately 90% of vehicles. Overall seatbelt use was 18.7; 31.7% among drivers and 10.3% and 0.4% among front and rear-seated adults, respectively. Only one child (0.7%) was restrained. Significantly more female drivers 47.3% used their seatbelts compared with men, 30.3% (p<0.001). An adult passenger was more likely to be restrained when riding with a female driver (p=0.007) and when the driver was restrained (p=0.000). Conclusions: The study showed that seatbelt use among vehicle occupants was low. Further research into reasons for the non-use of restraints needs to be conducted so that these can be incorporated into programmes aimed at improving seatbelt use.Item Use of seatbelts by vehicle occupants in University College Hospital, (U.C.H) Ibadan, Nigeria(Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria., 2005) Sangowawa, A. O.; Ekanem, S. E. U.; Alagh, B. T.; Ebong, I. P.; Faseru, B.; Uchendu, O.; Adekunle, B. J.; Shaahu, V. H. S.; Fajola, A.; Ogbole, G. I.Road traffic accidents are a major cause of death and disability worldwide. A number of mecha nisms have been put in place to reduce the ensu ing injuries, one of which is the use of seatbelts. This observational study was carried out to de termine seatbelt use by vehicle occupants in Uni versity College Hospital (U.C.H). Trained re search assistants observed drivers and other ve hicle occupants as they drove into the only fuel station within the hospital premises between 8.30a.m and 6.00 p.m. over a six-day period. Data on vehicle occupant characteristics, pres ence and use of installed seat belts was docu mented using a modified version of the FIA foun dation sample seatbelt wearing observation form. A total of 570 occupants in 402 vehicles were observed. There were 402 drivers and 117 and 50 front and rear seat occupants respectively. The only child observed was unrestrained and seated on an adults lap in the front. Seat belt use by the drivers, front and rear seat passengers were 76 (18.9%), 16 (13.7%) and 2 (4%) respectively. A higher proportion 29 (29.9%) of all female drivers compared with male drivers 47 (15.4%) were restrained (X2 = 9.152, p = 0.02). Overall seat belt use observed was 16.5% and driver use was only 18.9% in spite of the existence of a law mandating use of seatbelt by drivers. Better enforcement of the current law is necessary and it should be extended to cover other vehicle occupants. The hospital environment presents a good opportunity to edu cate the public on the importance of seatbelt use utilizing various health education methods.