Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Motor vehicles crashes (MVCs) are the leading cause of injury related morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Recent evidence proves that properly used child seat belts can dramatically reduce the risk of severe and life-threatening injury from MVCs. There are rarities of thought and inspiration regarding the use of child seat belts in our society and region, therefore we lack of data regarding factors and paucity of usage of child seat belts in motor vehicles. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of child seat belt usage among the educated population in Karachi, Pakistan.
METHODS: Altogether 304 employees were investigated. They were employees of Aga Khan University who were using their cars and having children younger than 10 years old. A cross sectional observational study was designed, and a 36-item questionnaire in English was used to collect data on participants' demographic details, designation, educational level, economic status, validity of driving license, number of children and cars, availability of adult seat belts and child seat belts along with their functionality, awareness, knowledge and attitude toward its use, and reason of not using these devices. SPSS version 20 for Windows was used to analyze the data and the Chi-square test was used.
RESULTS: Totally 290 participants were recruited with a response rate of 72% (212). Of 212 participants, 126 (59%) were male. 154 (72.6%) participants had valid driver licenses, and 154 (72.6%) had adult seat belts in their vehicles. Only 32 (15%) reported regular use of adult seat belts. Although 168 (79.2%) participants had some knowledge about child restrains (CRs), only 65 (22%) had CRs in their cars. Eighty-two (38.7%) participants got the knowledge about CRs and seat belts from media. Mothers were more concerned about the use of CRs than fathers. Only 14 (6.6%) parents were found to use both adult and child seat belts all the time. Of the 157 parents who did not us use CRs, 42 considered unnecessary, 35 lacked relevant knowledge. But 15 parents used CR against their children's wills.
CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of CR usage among the employees at Aga Khan University, Karachi is dictated by the unavailability of CR, followed by ignorance, inconvenience, and non-acceptance by their children. The important issue of CR has consistently been ignored over the years and it has never gained enough popularity in Pakistan.

Key words: Child restrains, Motor vehicles crash, Injury prevention, Pakistan