A study on awareness of road traffic accidents and their basic management among medical students of Government Medical College, Maharashtra, India
A study on awareness of road traffic accidents and their basic management among medical students of Government Medical College, Maharashtra, India
Blog Article
Background: India contributes to one in every ten road traffic accident (RTA) deaths across the world.Aim: The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice toward road safety protocol and the basic life support among medical students.Settings and Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate medical students of 5th and 7th semesters studying in Government Medical College, Maharashtra, India.Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted during May 2018 to September 2018 among 265 undergraduate medical students in Government Medical College, Maharashtra, India, using a pretested questionnaire.Statistical Analysis: Frequency analysis of data was done, and Chi-square test was applied for the categorical variables using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS version-22) Chicago, USA.
Results and Conclusion: Our participants belonged to the age group of 19 to 22 years, and 46% of students were female and 54% were male.Majority (57.35%) of the Wither Strap students commute to college by bikes.It was found that nearly half (48.67%) participants wore a helmet occasionally while riding.
9.43% of students admitted that they only carry it with for avoiding traffic police.Nearly one-third (35.84%) of participants were fined in the past for traffic rule violations.The most common traffic violation was driving without a helmet (7.
16%).Most (94.33%) of the participants had a good knowledge of road traffic signs.69.81% of participants responded that they should stop the vehicle and then attend the call.
Nearly half (47.16%) of the study participants wrongly interpreted the traffic signals.Only 5.2% of participants knew the correct method to secure the airway in a Cutlery road traffic accident.Young drivers are a vulnerable age group of drivers worldwide.
Our study revealed that only 33 participants rode two-wheelers, who knew about wearing helmets, and practiced it regularly.This is not a good sign at all.About 35.84% of participants were fined in the past for traffic rule violations.These reflected poor practice of traffic rules.
Only 5.2% of participants knew the airway management in an RTA.This poor knowledge may be due to the lack of induction training about basic life support.The overall knowledge about RTA and basic management was very poor.