KNOWLEGDE AND PRACTICE OF PLACEMENT OF UNDER-FIVE IN FRONT SEATS OF VEHICLE AMONG PARENTS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

The growing trend in the prevalence of Infant Mortality and Morbidity has been associated with placement of children in front seats and non-use of age-appropriate restraint seats in vehicles, especially among Under-5 and children below thirteen years (13yrs) of age. This study, therefore, assessed the knowledge and practice of placement of Under-5 in front seats of vehicles among parents in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo state. The study was descriptive cross sectional survey that used a two-stage sampling technique to select 270 parents across fifteen (15) selected private nursery and primary schools in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State. A validated semi-structured questionnaire which contained a 21-point knowledge scale, 10-point perception scale, questions relating to factors influencing practice and the practice of placement of Under-5 in front seats in vehicles among parents was used for data collection. Knowledge scores ≤6, ≥7-13 and ≥14 were classified as poor, fair, and good respectively. Perception scores ≤4 and ≥5 were categorized as unfavourable and favourable respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at P=0.05. About 62.2% of the respondents were female and most of the respondents 95.2% had tertiary education. Mean knowledge score was 38.9±6.7; respondents with poor, fair and good knowledge of placement of Under-5 in front seats of vehicles were 48.9%, 50.7% and 0.4% respectively. The mean perception score was 6.25±1.64 and 86.3% of the respondents had a favourable perception on dangers of placement of under-5 in front seat and without restraint in vehicles. Majority 88.1% perceived that children are not as safe in the front seats as in the back seats and 78.1% considered child restraints to provide better protection in a crash than adult seatbelt for children. Two-third 66.7% of all the respondents has good practice of placement positions of under-5 in seats of vehicles. Observation carried out in the study shows that 77.0% of the respondents placed their children at the back seat which is at variance with 54.1% reported to have placed their child at the back seat in the vehicle while driving. There are factors that favour placement of under-5 among those with good practice of placement positions and the use of age-appropriate restraint seat. Conversely, a major barrier inhibiting correct placement position of under-5 in the seat of vehicle was child objecting to be placed at the back seat and

also to be restrained (52.2%). Restraint use and placement of under-5 in front seats of vehicles was generally low which was influenced by low knowledge of parents in respect to placement position of under-5 and use of age-appropriate restraint seats in vehicles. Efforts should be directed at elevating the understanding of parents concerning the importance of restraining younger children in the rear seats, alongside the provision of restraints at subsidized rates or preferably free of charge, while encouraging their use through well-planned and adequately resourced extensive public education and enforcement campaigns.