@article{ref1,
title="Attitudes towards and practice of helmet use among commercial motorcyclists in Dar Es Salaam region, Tanzania",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2012",
author="Mwakapasa, E. and Outwater, A.",
volume="18",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="A194-A194",
abstract="Background The non-use of helmets is a specific factor leading to head injuries resulting from motorcycle crashes.  Purpose The study's purpose was to explore the commercial motorcyclists' attitude and their practices of helmet wearing.  Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in urban and peri-urban areas of Dar es Salaam region in May, 2011 at 40 randomly selected commercial motorcycle parking points. A total of 273 commercial motorcyclists participated. Face-to-face interviews were performed using a standard questionnaire while observations were conducted using adapted WHO checklist. Data was analysed using SPSS V.16.0.  Results The majority of respondents (81.3%) reported that they wear helmets; few of them (32.4%) wearing a helmet consistently. Predictors of helmet use were having a positive attitude, towards helmet use for passengers (p=0.005), protective ability of helmets against head injury (p=0.003), wearing of helmets during the night (p=0.001) and the necessity of wearing helmets even by experienced riders (p=0.000).Commercial motorcyclists who had primary education were more likely to wear helmets than those who had no formal education (AOR 6.146; 95% CI 1.345 to 28.097). No significant difference in helmet wearing between urban and peri-urban areas (p=0.109). Observations showed that 52.7% were observed wearing helmets and 91.8% of them had no passenger's helmet.  Significance Despite a generally positive attitude towards helmet use, most commercial motorcyclists do not wear helmet consistently. This highlights the need for exploring the factors behind inconsistent helmet use.   This is an abstract of a presentation at Safety 2012, the 11th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, 1-4 October 2012, Michael Fowler Center, Wellington, New Zealand. Full text does not seem to be available for this abstract. <p />",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/injuryprev-2012-040590s.16",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2012-040590s.16"
}