Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41816169›Full record

ArticleJournal of family medicine and primary care2026

Physical environmental attributes and helmet use in an Indian metropolis: An ecological study.

Isha Madan, B Aishwarya, Gautham Melur Sukumar, Nishit Patel, M Pallavi, P Priyanka, M N Anucheth, G Gururaj, Abdulgafoor M Bachani

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of family medicine and primary care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Understanding helmet compliance through an environmental lens.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2026
    Article
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

9 authors.

Isha MadanMPH Scholar, Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
B AishwaryaMPH Scholar, Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Gautham Melur SukumarProfessor, Department of Epidemiology, Head-WHO Collaborating Centre for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Nishit PatelResearch Associate, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
M PallaviFormer Project Coordinator, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
P PriyankaFormer Project Coordinator, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
M N AnuchethFormer Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Bengaluru Traffic Police, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
G GururajFormer Director and Senior Professor of Epidemiology and Former Head-WHO Collaborating Centre for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Abdulgafoor M BachaniDirector, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) and fatalities among powered two-wheeler (PTW) users are associated with helmet use. Though individual-level reasons for not wearing helmets are well researched, evidence regarding macro-level environmental reasons is limited from an Indian context. Objective: To test for the association between physical environmental factors (temperature, windspeed, pressure, humidity and visibility) and helmet use in Bengaluru city. Methods: Session and location-wise observational data of helmets were collected by NIMHANS and Johns Hopkins' International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) across 15 randomly selected locations in Bengaluru city in 2021. This was merged with physical environmental data (temperature, wind speed, humidity, pressure, visibility and rainfall) extracted from www.timeanddate.com, specific to location and time of helmet data collection. Univariate and correlation analyses were performed to test for the association between physical environmental attributes and helmet use rates. Results: A significantly negative correlation was found between pressure and helmet use, while a significantly positive correlation was found between humidity and helmet use. No significant correlation was found between wind speed, temperature, visibility and helmet use rates. Conclusion: Contrary to popular belief, we did not find any significant association between temperature and helmet use rates. However, helmet use positively correlated with humidity. Ecological fallacy is expected in the interpretation of the results.

Indexed as

Ecological studyhelmet useinjury preventionphysical environmentpowered two-wheeler road traffic injuries

Identifiers

PMID41816169
PMCPMC12975071

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.