Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26392362›Full record

Observational studyBMC public health2015

Seat belt and mobile phone use among vehicle drivers in the city of Doha, Qatar: an observational study.

Ziyad R Mahfoud, Sohaila Cheema, Hekmat Alrouh, Mohammed Hamad Al-Thani, Al Anoud Mohammed Al-Thani, Ravinder Mamtani

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ziyad R MahfoudDivision of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box: 24144, Doha, Qatar. zrm2001@qatar-med.cornell.edu.
Sohaila CheemaDivision of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box: 24144, Doha, Qatar. soc2005@qatar-med.cornell.edu.
Hekmat AlrouhDivision of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box: 24144, Doha, Qatar. har2005@qatar-med.cornell.edu.
Mohammed Hamad Al-ThaniDepartment of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, P.O. Box: 42, Doha, Qatar. malthani@sch.gov.qa.
Al Anoud Mohammed Al-ThaniDepartment of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, P.O. Box: 42, Doha, Qatar. aalthani@sch.gov.qa.
Ravinder MamtaniDivision of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Qatar Foundation, Education City, P.O. Box: 24144, Doha, Qatar. ram2026@qatar-med.cornell.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn Qatar traffic injuries and fatalities are of serious concern. Mobile phone use whilst driving has been associated with increased risk of vehicular collisions and injuries. Seat belt use has been demonstrated to save lives and reduce the severity of road traffic injuries. Whereas previously published studies may have looked at all front passengers, this study aims to obtain reliable estimates of the prevalence of seat belt and mobile phone use among vehicle drivers in the city of Doha, Qatar. Additionally, we aim to investigate the association of these behaviors with other variables namely gender, time of the day and type of vehicle.

methodsAn observational study on 2,011 vehicles was conducted in 2013. Data were collected at ten sites within Doha city over a two-week period. Two trained observers surveyed each car and recorded observations on a data collection form adapted from a form used in a 2012 Oklahoma observational study. Associations were assessed using the Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. A p-value of .05 or less was considered statistically significant.

resultsOverall, 1,463 (72.7 %) drivers were found using a seat belt (95 % CI: 70.8-74.7 %) and 150 (7.5 %) their mobile phones (95 % CI: 6.3-8.6 %) during the observation period. Mobile phone use was significantly associated with not using a seat belt and driving a sport utility vehicle. Significantly lower rates of seat belt use were observed in the early morning and late afternoon. No gender differences were observed. DISCUSSION: Seatbelt use in Doha was found to be similar to countries in the region but lower than those in western countries. Also, studies from other high-income locations, reported lower rates of mobile phone use while driving than in Doha.

conclusionsDespite road traffic crashes being one of the leading causes of death in Qatar, three out of 10 drivers in Doha, Qatar, do not use a seat belt and about one in 12 use a mobile phone while driving. More efforts, in the form of awareness campaigns and increased law enforcement, are needed to improve compliance with laws requiring seat belt use and prohibiting mobile phone use while driving.

Indexed as

Accidents, TrafficAutomobile DrivingCell PhoneFemaleHumansLaw EnforcementMaleQatarSafetySeat BeltsWounds and Injuries

Identifiers

PMID26392362
PMCPMC4578805

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.