Effect Of A Nurse-Led Training Programme On Knowledge Of Risky Behaviours Among Motorcycle Operators

Commercial motorcycling emerged, and has become established, as a popular means of transportation in Nigeria due to the inadequacy of the conventional modes of mass movement to meet commuters’ expectations and demands. Unfortunately, motorcycle crashes continue to escalate the already grim statistics of road traffic morbidities and fatalities. This has not been unconnected with the risky behaviours demonstrated by the motorcycle operators. Although there are advances in roadway construction and vehicular design, knowledge and prevention of these risky behaviours have been low.

Using a quasi-experimental one-group design,72 registered motorcycle operators in Ado – Ekiti were selected to participate in a Nurse-led training programme.The sample size was determined using Leslie Kish formula and multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select the participants. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on the respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and their knowledge regarding traffic-, substance abuse- and health-related risky behaviours during their operations, after the research supervisor and a group of experts in the field evaluated, and ascertained its content and face validity. The data collection took place before and after the intervention. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained bya pre-test and the derivation of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Prior testing of the training modules was also done before the study was undertaken. The data were coded into, and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0. With the aid of descriptive and inferential statistics using the students’ t-test to determine the difference in mean knowledge scores pre- and post-intervention, the research questions were answered and the hypotheses tested.

Findings from this study showed that the level of knowledge of the motorcycle operators in Ado – Ekiti regarding risky behaviour was low, as majority of the respondents had a poor knowledge of these risky behaviours pre-intervention. Also, there was a significant improvement in the knowledge of the motorcycle operators on risky behaviours following the nurse-led training programme (P = 0.000).

The study therefore concluded that the nurse-led training programme resulted in an improvement in the knowledge of the motorcycle operators regarding traffic-related, substance abuse- and health-related risky behaviours. The need to scale up awareness campaigns and education regarding risky behaviours among the motorcycle operators cannot be overemphasized.