Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Using Helmets in Children amongst Parents to Prevent Head Injuries: A Cross-Sectional Study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: The primary objective was to characterize the range of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of Helmet use in children amongst parents to prevent head injuries and death. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, done by online survey using a snowball sampling technique, the number of included responses were 386 parents (Male and female) living in Riyadh Aged 21 - 60 years old or above. Results: The study showed that there is a difference in Parents’ belief in the importance of helmet use while riding a Bicycle vs Motorcycle/Quad bike and that was affected by parents’ education level, almost all the people who answered the survey (76.7%) agree that it is important for their children to wear a helmet when riding both a Bicycle and a Motorcycle or Quadbike with a cumulative percentage of (93.8%). And almost all agreed on multiple approaches to help increase helmet use be it by forcing rental shops to give out helmets, forcing sellers to recommend the use of helmets, increasing awareness campaigns, and imposing fines for not wearing helmets. Conclusions: This study is the first to explore Family helmet use while riding Bicycles and Motorcycles/Quad bikes. Although Parent’s belief in the importance of helmet use for their children was high, it is clear that the level of practice is low. With that the risk of head injuries might be high, our findings suggest that safety interventions for increasing pediatric helmet use are needed to increase helmet use and reduce the risk of head injury and hospitalization.