NDLI: Seat belt and mobile phone use among vehicle drivers in the city of Doha, Qatar: an observational study

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Mahfoud, Ziyad R. Cheema, Sohaila Alrouh, Hekmat Al-Thani, Mohammed Hamad Al-Thani, Al Anoud Mohammed Mamtani, Ravinder
Abstract	Background In Qatar traffic injuries and fatalities are of serious concern. Mobile phone use whilst driving has been associated with increased risk of vehicular collisions and injuries. Seat belt use has been demonstrated to save lives and reduce the severity of road traffic injuries. Whereas previously published studies may have looked at all front passengers, this study aims to obtain reliable estimates of the prevalence of seat belt and mobile phone use among vehicle drivers in the city of Doha, Qatar. Additionally, we aim to investigate the association of these behaviors with other variables namely gender, time of the day and type of vehicle. Methods An observational study on 2,011 vehicles was conducted in 2013. Data were collected at ten sites within Doha city over a two-week period. Two trained observers surveyed each car and recorded observations on a data collection form adapted from a form used in a 2012 Oklahoma observational study. Associations were assessed using the Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test. A p-value of .05 or less was considered statistically significant. Results Overall, 1,463 (72.7 %) drivers were found using a seat belt (95 % CI: 70.8–74.7 %) and 150 (7.5 %) their mobile phones (95 % CI: 6.3–8.6 %) during the observation period. Mobile phone use was significantly associated with not using a seat belt and driving a sport utility vehicle. Significantly lower rates of seat belt use were observed in the early morning and late afternoon. No gender differences were observed. Discussion Seatbelt use in Doha was found to be similar to countries in the region but lower than those in western countries. Also, studies from other high-income locations, reported lower rates of mobile phone use while driving than in Doha. Conclusions Despite road traffic crashes being one of the leading causes of death in Qatar, three out of 10 drivers in Doha, Qatar, do not use a seat belt and about one in 12 use a mobile phone while driving. More efforts, in the form of awareness campaigns and increased law enforcement, are needed to improve compliance with laws requiring seat belt use and prohibiting mobile phone use while driving.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-015-2283-3.pdf
Ending Page	6
Page Count	6
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-015-2283-3
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	15
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2015-09-22
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Seat belt Mobile phone Accident Road safety Driving Qatar Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

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