Lifejacket wear and the associated factors among boaters involved in occupational boating activities on Lake Albert, Uganda: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Drowning death rates in lakeside fishing communities in Uganda are the highest recorded globally. Over 95% of people who drowned from a boating activity in Uganda were not wearing a lifejacket. This study describes the prevalence of lifejacket wear and associated factors among boaters involved in occupational boating activities on Lake Albert, Uganda. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, grounded on etic epistemology and a positivist ontological paradigm. We interviewed 1343 boaters across 18 landing sites on Lake Albert, Uganda. Lifejacket wear was assessed through observation as boaters disembarked from their boats and self-reported wear for those who ‘always wore a life jacket while on the lake’. We used a mixed-effects multilevel Poisson regression, with landing site-specific random intercepts to elicit associations with lifejacket wear. We report adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) at 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were male, 99.6% (1338/1343), and the largest proportion, 38.4% (516/1343) was aged 20–29 years. Observed lifejacket wear was 0.7% (10/1343). However, self-reported wear was 31.9% (428/1343). Tertiary-level education (adjusted PR 1.57, 95% CI 1.29- 1.91), boat occupancy of at least four people (adjusted PR 2.12, 95% CI 1.28 - 3.52), big boat size (adjusted PR 1.55, 95% CI 1.13 - 2.12) and attending a lifejacket-use training session (adjusted PR 1.25, 95% CI 1.01 - 1.56) were associated with higher prevalence of self-reported lifejacket wear. Self-reported wear was lower among the 30–39 year-olds compared to those who were aged less than 20 years (adjusted PR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45 - 0.99). CONCLUSION: Lifejacket wear was low. Training on lifejacket use may improve wear among boaters involved in occupational boating activities on Lake Albert.