Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
The rapidly motorizing environment in Malaysia has made child occupant safety a current public health concern. The usage of child safety seats (CSS) is a widely regarded intervention to enhance child occupant safety, yet no study has been conducted on CSS in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the CSS usage rates in Malaysia and to assess driver characteristics that are associated with CSS usage.


METHODS
Nine variables - urban versus rural study location, age, gender, marital status, educational status, monthly family income, number of children present in the vehicle, distance traveled to the study location, and attitude - were examined through a cross-sectional study of interviewing drivers of 230 vehicles transporting at least one child <10 years of age at the time of the study. The vehicles were also observed for whether or not there was a CSS present. The interviews were conducted at six sampling locations - three urban and three rural - in the state of Melaka.


RESULTS
27.4% of the drivers were found to be using at least one CSS at the time of the survey. Among the nine variables studied, three of the driver characteristics showed statistical significance (p<0.05) with CSS usage: age (p=0.047), educational status (p=0.009), and attitude (p=0.009).


CONCLUSIONS
This study begins to create knowledge on child occupant safety in Malaysia. The results indicate that interventional efforts should focus on educational programs geared toward drivers that are less educated or extended family members who inconsistently transport young children. Furthermore, any educational efforts could be strongly enhanced by legislation mandating the use of CSS. Every effort should be made to thoroughly assess the effectiveness of any educational or legislative activities that are implemented.
Road Safety Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. drkulan@eng.upm.edu.my
S
S
Kulanthayan
Ahmad
A
Razak
Ellen
E
Schenk
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D057207:Child Restraint Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population