Cover Image

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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan, Ahmad Razak,, Schenk, Ellen
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Elsevier Limited 2010
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/1/Driver%20characteristics%20associated%20with%20child%20safety%20seat%20usage%20in%20Malaysia.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.upm.eprints.14135
record_format eprints
spelling my.upm.eprints.141352015-09-22T06:48:01Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/ Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study. K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan Ahmad Razak, Schenk, Ellen 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). Discussion: 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. Elsevier Limited 2010-03 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/1/Driver%20characteristics%20associated%20with%20child%20safety%20seat%20usage%20in%20Malaysia.pdf K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan and Ahmad Razak, and Schenk, Ellen (2010) Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 42 (2). pp. 509-514. ISSN 0001-4575; ESSN: 1879-2057 10.1016/j.aap.2009.09.015 English
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
English
description 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). Discussion: 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.
format Article
author K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan
Ahmad Razak,
Schenk, Ellen
spellingShingle K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan
Ahmad Razak,
Schenk, Ellen
Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
author_facet K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan
Ahmad Razak,
Schenk, Ellen
author_sort K.C. Mani@Subramaniam, Kulanthayan
title Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
title_short Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
title_full Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
title_fullStr Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
title_full_unstemmed Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
title_sort driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in malaysia : a cross-sectional study.
publisher Elsevier Limited
publishDate 2010
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/1/Driver%20characteristics%20associated%20with%20child%20safety%20seat%20usage%20in%20Malaysia.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14135/
_version_ 1643825541383454720
score 13.211869

Similar Items