title: Evaluation of a school-based intervention to reduce traffic-related injuries among adolescents in Beijing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Millions of adolescents are killed or injured in traffic accidents on the world's roads each year, but data on traffic-injury prevention programs targeting adolescents are limited, especially from developing countries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a traffic-injury prevention program targeting adolescents in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a school-based traffic-safety intervention program with 2,759 students in two middle schools and two high schools in Beijing. An open-cohort, pre-post design with intervention and control groups was used to evaluate the intervention effect.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported a significant increase in knowledge and awareness of traffic safety and a decrease in self-reported unsafe traffic behaviours. Students in middle school and girls reported better intervention effects than their high school and male counterparts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that school-based traffic-injury prevention programs may increase participants' knowledge of traffic signs and awareness of traffic safety issues. The high traffic mortality in China, particularly in Chinese adolescents, suggests that more age- and culture-appropriate traffic safety promotion programs are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Sciences Center, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Xiurong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000293:Adolescent; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*