Perception and Compliance with Use of Safety Helmet as a Preventive Measure among Commercial Motorcyclists in Yoruba Ethnic-Dominated South-West Nigeria

Abstract:

Significant proportion of motorcyclists in Nigeria do not adhere to appropriate safety measures due to ethnic and cultural misconceptions, prominent among which is the perceived belief among Yorubas in South-west Nigeria that motorcycle helmets could be a medium for spells and communicable infections. Study assessed the perception of commercial motorcyclists about safety helmets, examined the attitude of motorcyclists and level of compliance with safety helmets. Study adopted a sequential explanatory mixed method using quantitative and qualitative data collection. Quantitative aspect employed semi-structured questionnaires to collect data from 200 commercials while Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted for the qualitative study. Chi-square statistic was used to examine association between dependent and independent variables, statistical significance taken at p<0.05. Qualitative responses were analyzed and findings presented thematically. Findings revealed that 82.5% of the motorcyclists had positive perception, 62.0% had a negative attitude towards safety helmets while 22.5% of the motorcyclists complied with appropriate safety helmet guidelines. Compliance with safety helmets was significantly associated with motorcyclists’ educational qualification (p=0.03), ethnicity (p=0.01) and perception about safety helmets (p=0.04). Study concluded that increased awareness and advocacy which takes cognizance of cultural contexts of motorcyclists are vital if fatalities from road traffic injuries are to be reduced in Nigeria.