Determinants of Helmet Use in Motorcycle Drivers: Instrumental or Normative Perspectives

Background: The motorcycle riders are approximately ten times more likely to suffer severe injuries and fatalities than drivers of four-wheeled vehicles. Head and neck injuries are the leading causes of death related to motorcycle crashes. Safety helmet plays important role in reducing the risk of severe injuries and fatalities. According to the World Health Organization report, in 2005, almost 70 percent of deaths due to motorcycle crashes in Iran were related to head injuries resulting from nonuse or improper use of helmets. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of motorcyclists helmet use.Methods: In this study which was approved by Health policy Research Center, Shiraz, Iran (2014), 507 male 10 to 30-years-old motorcyclists from Darab and Zarin Dasht cities answered the researcher designed questionnaires about their using helmet behavior and it’s probably related psychosocial factors including Perceived sensitivity, Perceived severity, Perceived benefits, Perceived barriers, Perceived behavioral control, Subjective norms, and Attitude toward law obedience. The questionnaires were completed through interviews in gas stations and intersections. Data were processed and analyzed using SPSS21. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test and correlation analysis were used considering the significant level of 0.05.Results: Overall 507 male motorcyclists participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 21.89 - 5.29, which most of them (70%) had diploma and higher education. About 89% of subjects reported that they do not use helmet when riding motorcycle. The results revealed that there were no significant differences in mean scores of Perceived sensitivity, Perceived severity, Perceived benefits, Perceived barriers, Perceived behavioral control and subjective norms of two using and not using helmet groups. But the participants who used helmet were significantly more committed to comply traffic laws than not using helmet participants. Positive attitude toward laws obedience and subjective norms had significant positive correlations with using helmet, while other variables were not significantly correlated with helmet use (table1).Conclusion: The findings revealed that in efforts to promote using helmet among motorcyclists, considering normative approaches which emphasize the internalization of values to respect the rules at individual ( compliance to laws) and social (subjective norms) levels may be more effective than instrumental approaches which assume people are motivated by gains, losses, rewards and punishments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Helmet ، Motorcycle ، Psychosocial factors ، determinants