Investigation of Seatbelt use Frequency of Healthcare Providers in Ankara

Aim: In Turkey, as in so many other developing countries, traffic accidents appear as a major public health problem that causes damage to thousands of people every year. Use of seat belt which is one of the most important life-saving safety measures in car accidents has not yet reached the desired level. In this study, the sensibilities of hospital health care providers with respect to seat belt use were investigated. Material and Method: After approved to local ethics committee we conducted this study in Hospital. Health care providers were observed at the parking entrance in order to see whether they put on seat belt or not while driving. The personal data of the subjects were obtained either from themselves or through the hospital employee records. Their names, gender, age, marital status, work unit, education level seat belt usage status, and professional parameters were recorded. The Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, when appropriate, was used to compareto these proportions in different groups. Results: There was statistically significant difference accordingly to professional groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, we found that health care providers have higher seat belt use rate rather previous study. Discussion: The use of seat belt increases in direct proportion to the education level and socio-economic status