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.