Citation

Alcoff JM. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Q. J. 1981; 3(2): 24-27.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, American Association for Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A postal survey was conducted among 168 family physicians and 87 pediatricians in eastern South Carolina. Of those who responded (72.5% of those surveyed), almost all (97.2%) were convinced of the value of safety devices of infants in automobiles and a similar number (94.5%) thought that counseling parents about this topic was an appropriate responsibility for the physician. Approximately one half of the physicians felt there should be a state law regarding the use of restraint systems for infants in cars and 40.4% kept literature about this subject in their office or clinic. One fifth of those who responded always counsel parents of young children about this subject, approximately two thirds do on occasion, and 9.2% never do. When compared to previous surveys, there has been a substantial positive increase in the attitudes and counseling practices of physicians who provide primary care to young children. Following the neonatal period, the motor vehicle poses the greatest single threat to a child's life. Occupant deaths in children under five years of age outnumber fatal poisonings by a ratio of 5:1. Because pediatricians and family physicians are in a unique position to exert their influence in convincing the American public that good health habits include the use of protective devices in motor vehicles, a survey conducted to determine the present attitudes and counseling practices of these physicians.