Citation

Muller MJ, Dulhunty JM, Paratz JD, Harrison JM, Redman BR. J. Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2013; 74(2): 652-657.

Affiliation

From the Professor Stuart Pegg Adult Burn Centre (M.J.M.), Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital; and The Burns, Trauma and Critical Care Research Centre (M.J.M., J.M.D, J.D.P.), and the School of Journalism and Communication (J.M.H., B.R.R.), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/TA.0b013e31827d5f42

PMID

23354265

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Major burn injuries cause devastating physical and psychosocial morbidity, combined with significant health care and community costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted burn prevention message on burn safety knowledge and behavior. METHODS: An 11-year retrospective review of patients admitted to an adult tertiary burn center identified flammable liquid burn injuries in males older than 15 years as 23% of admissions and the most common preventable injury. Burn safety knowledge and experience were measured in a single-blinded, controlled, restricted (male, >15 years), interventional, (therapeutic) prevention study using a total of 2,053 computer-assisted telephone interviews in an intervention region (IR) and control region. A two-week multimedia campaign with the theme "Don't Be a Flamin' Fool" was delivered in the IR. RESULTS: The preintervention survey revealed that 13% (218 of 1,637) reported having previously had a gasoline (petrol) burn. Following the intervention, there was a higher percentage of respondents in the IR that had seen or heard a burn prevention message in the previous 3 months (51% vs. 10%; p < 0.001) and perceived that gasoline was a danger when used to start a fire (97% vs. 91%; p = 0.001), that any volume of gasoline was unsafe (85% vs. 65%; p < 0.001), and that gasoline can explode (96% vs. 92%; p = 0.001). Awareness and memory reverted to preintervention levels at 12 months. Eighty-three percent of respondents (100 of 120) who had seen the "Flamin' Fool" campaign thought it was effective in getting its message across. CONCLUSION: This collaborative study found that a media prevention message had a significant impact on burn safety knowledge, which diminished over time.

Language: en