title: Health-risk behaviors related to road safety among adolescent students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Injuries are now a major cause of death and disability among the adolescents in the world. Road accidents are the main cause of death of young men worldwide.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study health-risk behavior related to road safety amongst adolescent students in south Delhi and its epidemiological correlates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three schools and two colleges in south Delhi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred fifty adolescent students aged 14-19 years selected by cluster sampling.
  
  
  METHODS
  Proportions, Chi-square test, multivariate logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half (52.4%) reported 'not always' wearing a seat belt. About 72.1% (300) of two-wheeler riders reported 'not always' and 23.3% (97) reported 'never' wearing a helmet. Nearly 20% (91) students rode with a driver who had alcohol before driving, and 37.3% (185) subjects had driven with a driver not possessing a driving license, in the past 30 days. Such 'road-hazard' behaviors were found to be significantly more in males and in lower-age groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the significant correlates of such behaviors were gender of the respondent and living status of the parents. Almost 77.5% (426) of the respondents were 'at risk' as far as behaviors related to safety on roads are concerned.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results should evoke earnest responses from the government, policy makers and all personnel concerned with adolescent welfare on how best to reduce the extent of this preventable problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India. studycorner@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Vijay L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012449:Safety