A randomised safety promotion intervention trial among low-income families with toddlers.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Toddler-aged children are vulnerable to unintentional injuries, especially those in low-income families. OBJECTIVE:To examine the effectiveness of an intervention grounded in social cognitive theory (SCT) on the reduction of home safety problems among low-income families with toddlers. METHODS:277 low-income mother-toddler dyads were randomised into a safety promotion intervention (n=91) or an attention-control group (n=186). Mothers in the safety promotion intervention group received an eight-session, group-delivered safety intervention targeting fire prevention, fall prevention, poison control and car seat use, through health education, goal-setting and social support. Data collectors observed participants' homes and completed a nine-item checklist of home safety problems at study enrolment (baseline), 6 and 12?months after baseline. A total score was summed, with high scores indicating more problems. Linear mixed models compared the changes over time in home safety problems between intervention and control groups. RESULTS:The intent-to-treat analysis indicated that the safety promotion intervention group significantly reduced safety problems to a greater degree than the attention-control group at the 12-month follow-up (between-group difference in change over time ?=-0.54, 95% CI -0.05 to -1.03, p=0.035), with no significant differences at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS:A safety promotion intervention built on principles of SCT has the potential to promote toddlers' home safety environment. Future studies should examine additional strategies to determine whether better penetration/compliance can produce more clinically important improvement in home safety practices. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NCT02615158; post-results.

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6252264 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature