A study to assess the knowledge and practice of road safety measures among undergraduate medical students of M. R. Medical College, Kalaburagi

Abstract

Background: Road traffic injuries claim more than 1.25 million lives each year and have a huge impact on health and development. They are the leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29 years globally. In the South East Asian region of the World Health Organization, India alone accounted for 73 percent of these Road traffic accidents (RTA) burden. The importance of road safety measures needs to be emphasized in the prevention of the road traffic accidents. The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge and practice of road safety measures among undergraduate medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 310 medical undergraduates of M.R. Medical College from 1st September to 1st October 2016. Data was collected using pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 16. Statistical analysis was done using relevant statistical tests.Results: Out of the 310 students 54.19% were males and 45.81% were females. 90.9% of the participants had driving licence, 32.1% of the students had taken training for driving the car and 66% of the students did not wear helmet. Female students had high knowledge of the road safety measures when compared to male students.Conclusions: The overall knowledge of road safety measures was high among the study participants. Regarding practice behaviours they were not desirable like practice of wearing helmet and exceeding speed limit. Undertaking proper road safety measures are the best available interventions to curb the epidemic of RTA.