Seat-belt use and related factors among high school students in a semi-rural area of western Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Traffic injuries are a public health issue that costs millions of death and injuries each year. The majority of all traffic deaths and injuries occur in rural and semi rural areas of developing countries as Turkey. The aim of present study was to determine seat belt use and related factors in high school students living in semi-rural area of Eskisehir. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in four semi-rural area of Eskisehir in 2014-2015 academic season. Students from 14 high schools were included into the study. A two part questionnaire was prepared to collect data. Results: In our study 22.9% of students do not use seat-belt in traffic. According to the multivariate logistic regression analyses no seat-belt use behaviour associated with being male 1.48 (1.02-2.13), having unemployed father 1.76 (1.20-2.58), no helmet use 1.64 (1.11-2.42), exhibiting violent behaviour at school 1.90 (1.36-2.65) and smoking 1.50 (1.01-2.25). Conclusion: An effective traffic education program must be planned and enforced in all high schools to improve students' negative behaviours about the seat-belt use. More effective school health programs and other policy and programmatic interventions are needed to address this issue.