Fernandez William G, Mehta Supriya D, Coles Tara, Feldman James A, Mitchell Patricia, Olshaker Jonathan
Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2006 Apr 27;6:111. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-6-111.
Safety belt use is 80% nationally, yet only 63% in Massachusetts. Safety belt use among potentially at-risk groups in Boston is unknown. We sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of belt non-use among emergency department (ED) patients in Boston.
A cross-sectional survey with systematic sampling was conducted on non-urgent ED patients age > or = 18. A closed-ended survey was administered by interview. Safety belt use was defined via two methods: a single-item and a multiple-item measure of safety belt use. Each was scored using a 5-point frequency scale. Responses were used to categorize safety belt use as 'always' or less than 'always'. Outcome for multivariate logistic regression analysis was safety belt use less than 'always'.
Of 478 patients approached, 381 (80%) participated. Participants were 48% female, 48% African-American, 40% White, median age 39. Among participants, 250 (66%) had been in a car crash; 234 (61%) had a valid driver's license, and 42 (11%) had been ticketed for belt non-use. Using two different survey measures, a single-item and a multiple-item measure, safety belt use 'always' was 51% and 36% respectively. According to separate regression models, factors associated with belt non-use included male gender, alcohol consumption >5 drinks in one episode, riding with others that drink and drive, ever receiving a citation for belt non-use, believing that safety belt use is 'uncomfortable', and that 'I just forget', while 'It's my usual habit' was protective.
ED patients at an urban hospital in Boston have considerably lower self-reported safety belt use than state or national estimates. An ED-based intervention to increase safety belt use among this hard-to-reach population warrants consideration.
全国安全带使用率为80%，而马萨诸塞州仅为63%。波士顿潜在高危人群的安全带使用情况未知。我们试图评估波士顿急诊科（ED）患者中不使用安全带的患病率及其相关因素。
对年龄≥18岁的非急诊ED患者进行系统抽样的横断面调查。通过访谈进行封闭式调查。安全带使用通过两种方法定义：单项和多项安全带使用测量。每种方法都使用5分频率量表评分。回答被用于将安全带使用分类为“总是”或少于“总是”。多变量逻辑回归分析的结果是安全带使用少于“总是”。
在478名被邀请的患者中，381名（80%）参与。参与者中48%为女性，48%为非裔美国人，40%为白人，年龄中位数为39岁。在参与者中，250名（66%）曾遭遇车祸；234名（61%）拥有有效驾照，42名（11%）曾因不使用安全带被开罚单。使用两种不同的调查测量方法，单项和多项测量，“总是”使用安全带的比例分别为51%和36%。根据单独的回归模型，与不使用安全带相关的因素包括男性、一次饮酒超过5杯、与酒驾者同乘、曾因不使用安全带被开罚单、认为安全带使用“不舒服”以及“我只是忘记了”，而“这是我的习惯”则具有保护作用。
波士顿一家城市医院的ED患者自我报告的安全带使用率明显低于该州或全国的估计值。考虑对这一难以接触到的人群进行基于ED的干预以提高安全带使用率是有必要的。
