ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY AMONG MALE ADOLESCENTS IN URBAN SLUMS OF DELHI

Background: Globally, road traffic injuries are leading cause of death among the adolescents. Sustainable development goal 3.6 suggests reducing deaths and injuries due to road traffic accidents. The risk of vehicular accidents increases further for the adolescents when they drink and drive. Hence it is pertinent to assess the knowledge and practice regarding road traffic safety, alcohol consumption practices among male adolescents of urban slums of Delhi. The main objective of the study was to assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding road traffic safety, among the male adolescents. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 100 male adolescents from urban slums of Delhi. Data was collected using semistructured, self-administered interview schedule. The collected data was entered using Microsoft Excel 2007 and was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 20. Chi-square test was applied and level of significance was kept at p-value of <0.05. The study period was from 11th June to 31st July. Results: Among the study subjects, 44.0% had the adequate knowledge regarding road traffic safety. Among all the respondents who knew driving 92.9% participants drive vehicles without license including both juvenile and >18 years of age. There was no significant relationship found between knowledge regarding road traffic safety and practice. There was good knowledge found regarding harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption among the participants. Conclusions: In the study, it was revealed that mere knowledge regarding road traffic safety important however; there was large gap between knowledge and practice. The implementation of road traffic rules is needed and mass media should be strengthened to follow road traffic rules by adolescents.