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Citation
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Khan UR, Ali A, Khudadad U, Raheem A, Zia N, Azam I, Chandran A, Razzak JA, Hyder AA. Injury 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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Highlights
• This study provides insights on the long-term effect of the two educational interventions for prevention of household injuries in children under five years
• The interventions included educational pamphlet and in-home tutorial guide about injury prevention in children under five years
• Injury hazards reduced in the long-term follow up for households that received in-home tutorial guide
• The reduction in the injury types included falls, drowning, burn and poisoning
• Injury prevention information for children under five years can be integrated to existing public healthcare system
Background
Unintentional childhood injuries are a growing public health concern, and the home is the most common location for non-fatal injuries in children less than 5 years of age. This study describes the long-term effects of two injury prevention educational interventions for caregivers--an educational pamphlet and an in-home tutorial guide--by comparing the change in the prevalence of home injury hazards before and after the interventions.
Methods
This was a pre- (June and July 2010) and post-study with short-term follow-up (November-December 2010) and long-term follow-up (November 2012- January 2013). Neighborhood one included households that received only educational pamphlets after completing a baseline assessment; neighborhood two included households that received an in-home tutorial guide after completing the baseline assessment and receiving the educational pamphlet. The main outcome of this study was the reduction in home injury hazards for children under 5 years of age.
Results
A total of 312 households participated in the long-term phase to compare the effect of the interventions. Between the short-term to long-term follow-up, injury hazards significantly reduced in neighborhood two compared to neighborhood one. These included fall hazards (walker use) (IRR 0.24 [95% CI 0.08-0.71]), drowning hazards (open bucket of water in the courtyard and uncovered water pool) (IRR 0.45 [95% CI 0.85-0.98] and IRR 0.46 [95% CI 0.76-0.94]), burn hazards (iron, water heater within reach of child) (IRR 0.56 [95% CI 0.33-0.78] and IRR 0.58 [95% CI 0.32-0.91]), poisoning hazards (shampoo/soap and medicine within reach of child) (IRR 0.53 [95% CI 0.44-0.77] and IRR 0.7 [95% CI 0.44-0.98]) and breakable objects within reach of child (IRR 0.62 [95% CI: 0.39-0.99]).
Conclusion
An injury prevention tutorial to caretakers of children supplemented with pamphlets could significantly decrease the incidence of falls, drowning, burns, poisoning, and cut injury hazards for children under 5 years of age in their homes in a low-resource setting. This intervention has the potential to be integrated in existing public health programs, such as Lady Health Visitors (LHVs), to disseminate injury prevention information in routine home health visits.
Language: en |