CAN PHYSICIANS EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE THE US E OF BICYCLE HELMETS

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of physician intervention in t he purchase of bicycle helmets. DESIGN Randomized single-blind control led trial; randomization by clusters. SETTING July 11 1992, cycling pa th in Beauport, Quebec. PARTICIPANTS Non-helmeted cyclists riding alon e and groups of two to six cyclists in which at least one member was n ot wearing a helmet were invited to participate in the study; 274 indi viduals or groups of cyclists (total n = 485 cyclists) were randomized for the study. INTERVENTION For the study group a physician handed ou t and explained the Canadian Medical Association's (CMA) pamphlet on b icycle helmets. This pamphlet includes a discount coupon for the purch ase of a helmet. All of the participants in both the study group and t he control group completed a questionnaire, including queries about so ciodemographic characteristics, name, and telephone number. MAIN OUTCO ME MEASURE Proportion of previously non-helmeted cyclists purchasing a helmet within 2 to 3 weeks of the intervention. RESULTS Telephone con tact was made with 340 of the 416 non-helmeted cyclists (from 224 grou ps of cyclists). Of the 174 cyclists who had received a CMA pamphlet, 13.8% (n = 24) had purchased a helmet, compared to 3.0% (n = 5) of the 166 control group cyclists (RR = 4.6,95% CL = 1.8-11.7). Similar resu lts were achieved by cluster analysis of cyclists. CONCLUSION Physicia n intervention using the CMA pamphlet could be effective in promoting the purchase of bicycle helmets.