The effect of an educational program based on the Theory of Planned Behavior on helmet use among employed motorcyclists

Although helmet use can decrease the risk of head injury (45%-88%) among motorcycle drivers, Only 6% of motorcycle drivers now use helmet in Iran.In this study the effect of an education plan based of theory of planned behavior on helmet use among the employed motorcyclists in Yazd was examined. This was a Quasi-experimental study.A questionnaire was used for data collection which had been designed based on theory of planned behavior. Validity and Reliability of the questionnaire approved by a panel of experts and test-retest [r=0.70-0.83, N=30] respectively. Subjects were 120 employed motorcycle drivers who entered in the study with a clustered random sampling from six offices in Yazd. The study sample [N=120] was divided into two groups of case and control [n=60] randomly after compeleting the questionnaires [private interview] in the pretest. An intervention program was designed based on the results of pretest.Then the intervention program was preformed for the case group.Thirty days after intervention program, post-test was conducted and the data analyzed using SPSS 11.5. Most of subjects (86/6%) cited heat as the most common barrier for helmet use. Rate of helmet use was unfavorable. Attitude, Perceived behavior control and subjective norms accounted for 59% of variance of intention to wear helmet among the subjects which Perceived behavior control was the strongest predictor.Administering education program was effective on all constructs of theory of planned behavior but education program was more effective on intention and helmet use behavior (P<0.001). Administering of education program and removing barriers of helmet use can provide background for helmet use promotion.