Injury prevention; Motorcyclists’ Responses and Practices on the Use of Helmets in Mwanza, Tanzania

Background: Regarding risk factors for motorcycle injuries, the non-use of helmet has been identified as a specific factor leading to head injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle crashes. Helmets as a protective measure have been identified to be effective towards head injury prevention.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice among motorcyclists on helmet use in Mwanza region, Tanzania.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-section study conducted in Mwanza region at different motorcyclist parking points, using a standardized tool, collected data were cleaned, analyzed and processed by using SPSS 16.
Results: A total of 200 motorcyclists were involved in the study. Knowledge on helmets use was high in most of them (91.5%) with slightly low positive attitudes (87.5%) on helmets use although possession of helmet was good of which 97.5% of them had helmet. Most of those motorcyclists 156(85.2%) with high knowledge had positive attitude on helmets use (P-value =0.000 indicating strong association between knowledge and attitude. Practice on helmet use every day at every trip was also influenced by knowledge. This relationship is further supported by p-value (0.00), indicates that there is strong association. (The chisquare is 0.00)
Conclusion: The study shows that majority of motorcyclists in Mwanza region are young adults with formal education, with most of them having high knowledge and positive attitudes on helmet use .The consistency of helmet use in our study subjects seems to be influenced positively by level of education.