The Effectiveness of Health Education Intervention in Enhancing Personal Protective Equipment Use

University of Buea

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Road Traffic Injury Prevention, Motorcycle Safety, Personal Protective Equipment Use, Visibility Materials, Injury Prevention Education, Health Behavior Change

Treatments: Behavioral: Health education intervention to improve knowledge and uptake of personal protective equipment and visibility materials among commercial motorcycle riders and passengers

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT07087444

2490-03

D43TW012186 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is testing whether a health education program can help commercial motorcycle riders and passengers in the Limbe and Tiko Health Districts of Cameroon improve their use of safety equipment. These include items like helmets, reflective jackets, and other materials that help riders and passengers be more visible and protected on the road.

People who ride or travel on motorcycles are at high risk for road injuries, especially when visibility is low. Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and visibility materials can prevent many of these injuries, but many riders do not use them regularly.

The study involves educating riders and passengers through group sessions and follow-up messages about the importance of safety gear. We will compare the use of PPE and visibility materials before and after the health education intervention to see if it made a difference.

Adults aged 18 and older who ride or travel on motorcycles in Limbe or Tiko are eligible to participate. The study will last several months and does not involve any drugs or medical procedures. There is no known risk to participants.

The results will help guide future road safety programs in Cameroon and other similar settings

Full description

Commercial motorcycle riders and passengers in Cameroon face a high burden of road traffic injuries, especially in crisis-affected areas like the Limbe and Tiko Health Districts. Poor road visibility, limited use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and low awareness of road safety practices contribute significantly to these injuries.

Despite the known benefits of PPE such as helmets, reflective jackets, and visibility materials, their uptake remains low. Previous studies have shown that health education can improve safety behaviors, but there is limited evidence on its effectiveness in increasing the use of PPE and visibility materials in this high-risk population.

This study aims to assess the impact of a targeted health education intervention on the uptake of PPE and visibility materials among commercial motorcycle riders and passengers. The intervention includes interactive education sessions, distribution of educational materials, and follow-up communication through SMS. Participants' knowledge, attitudes, and use of safety equipment will be measured before and after the intervention to evaluate effectiveness.

The findings from this study will support the design of scalable and community-driven road safety interventions and may inform national policy and programming to reduce road traffic injuries in Cameroon and similar low-resource settings.

Enrollment: 967 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults aged 18 years and above

Commercial motorcycle riders or regular motorcycle passengers

Residing or operating in the Limbe or Tiko Health District

Willing and able to provide informed consent

Able to participate in both baseline and follow-up assessments

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals who declined to provide informed consent

Individuals who were not available for follow-up or unwilling to participate in follow-up assessments

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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967 participants in 2 patient groups

Arm 1 Title: Intervention Group (Limbe Health District)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the Limbe Health District receive a structured health education intervention designed to improve their knowledge, attitudes, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and visibility materials. The intervention includes interactive group sessions, distribution of educational materials, and follow-up reminders via SMS to reinforce safe riding practices. This aims to increase the consistent use of helmets, reflective jackets, and other visibility aids to reduce road traffic injuries among commercial motorcycle riders and passengers.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health education intervention to improve knowledge and uptake of personal protective equipment and visibility materials among commercial motorcycle riders and passengers

Arm 2 Title: Control Group (Tiko Health District)

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the Tiko Health District serve as the control group and do not receive the health education intervention during the study period. They continue their usual practices without additional education or support related to personal protective equipment or visibility materials. This allows comparison to assess the effectiveness of the intervention delivered in Limbe.