Citation

Bishai DM, Qureshi A, Cantu N, Parks C. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2003; 10(12): 1371-1377.

Affiliation

Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21030, USA. dbishai@jhu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14644790

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether injury prevention counseling and behavioral counseling delivered in the emergency department (ED) could result in increases in self-reported bicycle helmet use. METHODS: The authors undertook a trial of counseling in 222 children recruited in an urban ED between August 2000 and October 2001. All consenting patients in the ED aged 5 to 15 years who did not have life-threatening conditions were eligible. One hundred nine children were assigned to the control group on the basis of attendance on an odd-numbered day, and they received a photocopied photograph of the hospital. One hundred thirteen children were assigned to the intervention group, and they received a personal counseling session and signed a contract promising to wear their bicycle helmets. In addition, 57 of the intervention children were assigned (based on having an even-numbered birthday) to be fitted with helmets if they did not already own them. Parents were telephoned four weeks after the ED encounter for follow-up. RESULTS: Follow-up data were obtained for 148 children (67% follow-up rate), of whom only 69 reported riding a bicycle in the four weeks after their ED visit. Of the final sample of 69 children, 38 belonged to one of the intervention groups, and 25 of these (66%) reported always wearing a helmet while cycling during the four weeks after their ED visit, versus 13 of 31 (42%) in the control group (odds ratio, 2.66; p < 0.05). The effect of the intervention was independent of whether the children owned a helmet at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Injury prevention counseling in the ED using "The Injury Prevention Program" (TIPP) sheet, behavioral contracting, and helmet distribution may have a significant effect on reports of subsequent bike helmet use.