Abstract
Aims: To describe cycle helmet owning and wearing among children in a deprived area and to investigate the association between helmet ownership and wearing and socioeconomic deprivation.
Methods: Cross sectional survey in 28 primary schools in deprived areas of Nottingham; 1061 year 5 schoolchildren were studied.
Results: All year 5 children attending school on the day of the survey completed the questionnaire (87% of children registered at participating schools). Children residing in a deprived area were less likely to own a bike and more likely to ride it four days a week or more. Half the children owned a helmet (52%), but only 29% of these always wore their helmet. Children in deprived areas were less likely to own a helmet, but those that owned a helmet were not less likely to always wear one. Family encouragement and parental warning of dangers of not wearing a helmet were associated with increased helmet ownership rates. Family encouragement and best friends wearing a helmet were associated with higher rates of helmet wearing.
Conclusions: Programmes aimed at preventing head injury among child cyclists will need to address the inequality in helmet ownership that exists between children residing in deprived and non-deprived areas. Strategies to increase family encouragement to wear a helmet may be useful, as may those recognising the importance of the attitudes and behaviours of peers, such as peer education programmes. Further work is required to assess how exposure to risk of cycling injury varies with deprivation.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (154.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adams J., Hillman M. Bicycle helmets. Risk taking is influenced by people's perception of safety and danger. BMJ. 2001 Apr 28;322(7293):1063–1064. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Adams J., Hillman M. The risk compensation theory and bicycle helmets. Inj Prev. 2001 Jun;7(2):89–91. doi: 10.1136/ip.7.2.89. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Britt J., Silver I., Rivara F. P. Bicycle helmet promotion among low income preschool children. Inj Prev. 1998 Dec;4(4):280–283. doi: 10.1136/ip.4.4.280. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cook A., Sheikh A. Trends in serious head injuries among cyclists in England: analysis of routinely collected data. BMJ. 2000 Oct 28;321(7268):1055–1055. doi: 10.1136/bmj.321.7268.1055. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cryer P. C., Cole J., Davidson L. L., Rahman M., Ching V., Goodall J. B. Rates of, and the factors affecting, cycle helmet use among secondary schoolchildren in East Sussex and Kent. Inj Prev. 1998 Jun;4(2):106–110. doi: 10.1136/ip.4.2.106. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dannenberg A. L., Gielen A. C., Beilenson P. L., Wilson M. H., Joffe A. Bicycle helmet laws and educational campaigns: an evaluation of strategies to increase children's helmet use. Am J Public Health. 1993 May;83(5):667–674. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.5.667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DiGuiseppi C. G., Rivara F. P., Koepsell T. D. Attitudes toward bicycle helmet ownership and use by school-age children. Am J Dis Child. 1990 Jan;144(1):83–86. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1990.02150250093041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DiGuiseppi C. G., Rivara F. P., Koepsell T. D., Polissar L. Bicycle helmet use by children. Evaluation of a community-wide helmet campaign. JAMA. 1989 Oct 27;262(16):2256–2261. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Farley C., Haddad S., Brown B. The effects of a 4-year program promoting bicycle helmet use among children in Quebec. Am J Public Health. 1996 Jan;86(1):46–51. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.1.46. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parkin P. C., Hu X., Spence L. J., Kranz K. E., Shortt L. G., Wesson D. E. Evaluation of a subsidy program to increase bicycle helmet use by children of low-income families. Pediatrics. 1995 Aug;96(2 Pt 1):283–287. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rivara F. P., Thompson D. C., Thompson R. S. Epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury. Inj Prev. 1997 Jun;3(2):110–114. doi: 10.1136/ip.3.2.110. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rodgers G. B. Bicycle helmet use patterns among children. Pediatrics. 1996 Feb;97(2):166–173. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sacks J. J., Kresnow M., Houston B., Russell J. Bicycle helmet use among American children, 1994. Inj Prev. 1996 Dec;2(4):258–262. doi: 10.1136/ip.2.4.258. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schieber R. A., Sacks J. J. Measuring community bicycle helmet use among children. Public Health Rep. 2001 Mar-Apr;116(2):113–121. doi: 10.1093/phr/116.2.113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thompson D. C., Rivara F. P., Thompson R. Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(2):CD001855–CD001855. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001855. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thompson D. C., Thompson R. S., Rivara F. P. Risk compensation theory should be subject to systematic reviews of the scientific evidence. Inj Prev. 2001 Jun;7(2):86–88. doi: 10.1136/ip.7.2.86. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Towner P., Marvel M. K. A school-based intervention to increase the use of bicycle helmets. Fam Med. 1992 Feb;24(2):156–158. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ukoumunne O. C., Gulliford M. C., Chinn S., Sterne J. A., Burney P. G., Donner A. Methods in health service research. Evaluation of health interventions at area and organisation level. BMJ. 1999 Aug 7;319(7206):376–379. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7206.376. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wardle S., Iqbal Z. Cycle helmet ownership and wearing; results of a survey in South Staffordshire. J Public Health Med. 1998 Mar;20(1):70–77. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubmed.a024722. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]