3.1. ioannis papanikolaou

Ioannis Papanikolaou, MSc; Manolis Adamakis, PhD Greece, 2016

Social Predictors of Bicycle Helmet Use Among Children & Adolescents

SCIENTISTS FOR CYCLING COLLOQUIUMAveiro, Portugal, 17 – 19 November

• Introduction

• Methodology

• Results

• Conclusion

• Recommendations

Outline

• Regular PA

• Feasible for many

• Health benefits

• outweigh the injury risks

Bauman et al., 2012; de Hartog et al., 2010; Titze et al., 2014

Cycling is considered:

• Activity with Injury risks

• Injury rate 0-16y = 1452/100000

• Helmet reduces head injury

• Parents believe it

• Children do not wear it

Berstein et al., 2003; Pardi et al., 2007

However..

Berstein et al., 2003; Pardi et al., 2007

• Age = 11years

• Gender = male

• Income = high

• Parental role modeling

Moreover, helmet use

Research Question?

What are social factors that predict helmet use inAmong Children & Adolescents in Greece?

Assess the rates of helmet use and examine social variables related to bicycle helmet use in a sample of Greek children aged 8-15 years.

Propose of the study

• 5 public – 1 private school

• 330 elementary – 224 junior high school pupils

• 331 boys – 288 girls (623 children)

• 11.78 ± 1.92 years

Methodology

1. Attitudes, behaviors and knowledge self-report questionnaire (Dannenberg et al., 1993)

Bicycle ownership and use Helmet ownership and use Family, parent and peer pressure on helmet use Public or private school attendance

2. Family Affluence Scale II (Boyce et al., 2016)

0 – 3: Low affluence 4 – 5: Middle affluence 6 – 9: High affluence

Questionnaires

• Statistical package IBM SPSS 20.0

• Descriptive statistics (M, SD, frequencies)

• Chi-square (χ2) analysis

• Ordinal logistic regression

Statistical analysis

Bicycle use Helmet ownership Helmet wear0

102030405060708090

10093%

43,9%

18,6%

Helmet

Results

Helmet ownership among groups

• The same among boys – girls: χ2=0.62, p=0.73

• Higher for elementary pupils: χ2=34.30, p<0.001

• Higher for private school pupils: χ2=48.72, p<0.001

• Higher for high affluence pupils: χ2=17.56, p=0.002

Multivariate regression model for prediction of helmet use

Variable B S.E. pHelmet ownership: No -3.165 0.314 <0.001

Friends wear helmet: None -2.199 0.583 <0.001

Friends wear helmet: Few -1.378 0.572 0.016

Siblings wear helmet: Never -1.567 0.392 <0.001

Siblings wear helmet: Sometimes -1.589 0.415 <0.001

Siblings wear helmet: Usually 1.076 0.503 0.032

Father wears helmet: Never -1.482 0.440 0.001

Father wears helmet: Sometimes -1.286 0.570 0.024

Father wears helmet: Usually 1.283 0.585 0.028

χ2=489.13, df=28, p<0.001

NS: Mother wearing helmet, Cycling frequency, Parents’ helmet beliefs, Education level, School type, Gender, FAS classification

Conclusion

• Most children and adolescents were riding bicycles

• They were not using bicycle helmets

• Helmet use were substantially higher among elementary pupils

• Higher socioeconomic status students wear helmets

• Significance of father ‘role modeling’

• Importance of peers

Recommendations

2. Bicycle lessons by instructors

3. Encouraging bicycle helmet use among children

1. Public awareness

Scientific Knowledge

Cycling

Programs

Take home message

Children, that know how to ride their bikes properly wearing helmet, can become more responsible future cyclists.

Thank for your attention!

Questions?

[email protected]

(Greek Police Statistics, 2015)