The attitudes of injured motorcyclists about the use of safety helmets based on the health belief model

 Trauma to the head and the resulting deaths are one of the major health problems in the world. Traffic accidents are the main reason for these traumas in motorcyclists though wearing a helmet can reduce the damage to a great degree. This study aimed to determine the "injured" motorcyclists’ attitudes about helmets based on the health belief model.

 This is a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study injured motorcyclists who were hospitalized in Shahid Rajaee hospital, Shiraz, were included in the study. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire called “Awareness & Attitude Associated with Motorcycle Traffic Safety”. Independent t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to compare the factors affecting attitude and awareness based on the factors in the demographic information form. The significance level was considered (P< 0.05).

In this study, 253 participants had a mean age of 30.47± 0.4years. The results of this study showed that in this study 37.5% of the participants were self-employed and 30%, were employees. Moreover, 53.4% had high school education, while 1.2% were illiterate. 50.6% reported it as their first motorcycle accident. Most of the injured patients were vehicle riders70% and 20% of them reported drug abuse. However, none of the factors, including vehicle riders, certification, accident frequency, drug abuse, education, and employment status had a significant effect on the participants' attitudes.

 The results of this study showed that the overall mean scores of the health belief model in the participants were not in favorable level; it was revealed that none of the factors of being a rider, having or not having a certificate, frequency of accidents, drug use,  level of education,  and employment  status  significantly  influenced  the  participants’  knowledge  and  attitude.  In other words, the patients' attitudes toward helmets were deemed unfavorable.