INTRODUCTION:

In many countries motor vehicle accidents rank first among all fetal accidents. India has high prevalence of road traffic accidents, with a significant number of fatalities and injuries each year.

Each Year about three to five percent of the GDP of the country was invested in road accidents. About 70 Percent of Accidents Involved young people. India accounts for 6% of the world’s road traffic accidents, despite only having about 1% of the global vehicle population. There were 461, 312 reported road accidents in India. This amounts to an average of 1,264 accidents and 462 deaths per day. In 2022, 168, 491 people died in road accidents in India. (BBC News –Delhi, 2023)

· Some of the factors that contribute to the high number of road accidents in India which includes

· The increasing number of vehicles

· The growth of the road network

· Over-speeding

· Driving under the influence of alcohol

· Hit and run cases

· General traffic violations [2]

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the level of knowledge regarding Road traffic Accidents among Adolescents in Patteswaram at kumbakonam, Thanjavur (D.t)

OBJECTIVE:

· To assess the level of knowledge regarding road traffic accidents among adolescents.

· To find out the association between the level of knowledge with their selected demographic variables

HYPOTHESIS:

· There is a significant difference between the level of knowledge regarding RTA among adolescents with their selected demographic variable.

METHODOLOGY:

A quantitative approach and a descriptive non-experimental research design was used. Section –A dealt with demographic variables like, age, gender, family type, residential area, religion, family income / month. Section-B was consists of 25 Structured Questionnaire. Each Correct answer carries one mark.

A Written Permission was obtained from community area Panchayat president incharge of Patteswaram Village. Total 50 Samples were Selected by the purposive Sampling techniques. Data collection was done by structured questionnaire after getting the informed consent from the each participants. Data were analyzed on the basis of objectives and hypothesis by using descriptive statistics. Chi-square test was used to find the association between demographics variable and the level of knowledge regarding RTA among adolescents.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Table 1: Distribution of percentage analysis of demographic variables of adolescents

Demographic Variables		No. of Respondents	Percentage
Age (in years)	10-12	5	10%
	12-14	17	34%
	14-16	13	26%
	16-18	15	30%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%
Gender	Male	9	18%
Gender	Female	41	82%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%
Type of family	Nuclear	18	36%
Type of family	Joint	31	64%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%
Occupation	Urban	7	14%
Occupation	Rural	43	86%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%
Religion	Hindu	33	66%
	Muslim	8	16%
	Christian	9	18%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%
Family Monthly Income (in Rs.)	Below 10000	8	16%
	10001-15000	22	44%
	15001-20000	15	30%
	Above 20001	5	10%
Total No. of Respondents		50	100%

Source: Primary Data

Interpretation:

From the above Table – I shows that, Majority 34 Percent of the respondent are in the age group of 12-14, followed 30 per cent of the respondents are in the age group of 16-18, 26 per cent are in the are group of 14-16 and 10 per cent are he age group of 10-12.

The majority 82 percent of the respondents are female and 18 per cent are male.

The most 64 percent of the respondents are in joint family and 36 per cent are in nuclear family.

The majority 86 percent of the respondents family monthly income of Rs. 10000-15000, 30 per cent of the respondents 15001-20000, 16 percent are earning below Rs.10000 and 10 percent are earning the monthly income above Rs.20001

Table 2: Percentage Analysis of demographic variables for the level of knowledge regarding road traffic accident among adolescents.

Knowledge Score	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Inadequate	10	20%
Moderately Adequate	20	40%
Adequate	20	40%
Total No. of Respondents	50	100%

Source: Primary Data

Interpretation:

From the above table – 2 reveals that, the knowledge level on road traffic accident among adolescents. The majority of 40 per cent of the respondents are having both moderately adequate knowledge and adequate knowledge and 10 per cent of the respondents are having inadequate knowledge on road traffic among adolescents.

Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of knowledge score on road traffic accident among adolescents.

Variables	Mean Score	Standard Deviation	N
Knowledge	14.78	3.991	50

Interpretation:

From the above table – 3 shows that, the mean and standard deviation score4s of knowledge score on road traffic accident among adolescents the mean score is 14.78 and standard deviation is 3.991 out of 50 respondent

Table 4: Association between levels of knowledge on road traffic accident among adolescents with their demographic variables.

Demographic variables		Inadequate		Moderately adequate		Adequate		Chi - Square	Result
Demographic variables		No. Res	%	No. Res	%	No. Res	%	Chi - Square	Result
Age (in year)	10-12	1	10%	0	0	4	20%	9.828* d.f=6 p=0.132	N.S
	12-14	3	30%	7	35%	7	35%
	14-16	5	50%	4	20%	4	20%
	16-18	1	10%	9	45%	5	25%
Gender	Male	3	30%	2	10%	4	20%	1.897* d.f=2 P=0.387	N.S
Gender	Female	7	70%	18	90%	16	80%	1.897* d.f=2 P=0.387	N.S
Type of family	Nuclear	4	40%	7	35%	7	35%	087* d.f=2 P=0.958	N.S
Type of family	Joint	6	60%	13	65%	13	65%	087* d.f=2 P=0.958	N.S
Residential area	Urban	0	0	4	20%	3	15%	2.243* d.f=2 p=0.326	N.S
Residential area	Rural	10	100%	16	80%	17	85%	2.243* d.f=2 p=0.326	N.S
Religion	Hindu	7	70%	15	75%	11	55%	4.817* d.f=4 P=0.307	N.S N.S
	Christian	0	0	3	15%	5	25%
	Muslim	3	30%	2	10%	4	20%
Family monthly income (in Rs.)	Below 10000	1	10%	3	15%	4	20%	1.384* d.f=6 P=0.967	N.S
	10001-15000	5	50%	10	50%	7	35%
	15000-20000	3	30%	5	25%	7	35%
	Above 20001	1	10%	2	10%	2	10%

*5% significant level (N.S - Not significant; S – Significant)

Interpretation:

It is observed that Table – 4 that, significant difference between levels of knowledge on road traffic accident among adolescents and their demographic factors at 5% level. All the demographic factors like age, religion, gender, type of family, family monthly income etc, are not significant association between levels of knowledge on road traffic accident among adolescents.

CONCLUSION:

The result of this study concluded that it is essential to improve the level of knowledge regarding RTA among adolescents. Because 20% of adolescents had moderately inadequate knowledge and 10% had inadequate knowledge regarding RTA in Patteswaram.

REFERENCE:

1. Nikhila Henry, (BBC News, Delhi)”, (01, Nov, 2023). Available From: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67282165

2. Shangliao Sun (13, Dec, 2023). Road accidents in India - statistics and facts

3. World Report on Child Injury Prevention Report, “World Health Organization and UNICEF”. Available From: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/child/inj ury/world report/Road_traffic_injuries_english.pdf

4. Road Traffic Injuries. World Health Organization. (21, June, 2021). Available From: https://www.who.int/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries.

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Received on 07.05.2025 Revised on 21.06.2025

Accepted on 29.07.2025 Published on 14.08.2025

Available online from August 23, 2025

Int. J. of Advances in Nursing Management. 2025;13(3):155-157.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2025.00030

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