TY - JOUR PY - 2003// TI - Home delivery of an injury prevention kit for children in four French cities: a controlled randomized trial JO - Injury prevention A1 - Sznajder, Marc A1 - Leduc, S. A1 - Janvrin, M. P. A1 - Bonnin, M. H. A1 - Aegerter, Philippe A1 - Baudier, F. A1 - Chevallier, Bertrand SP - 261 EP - 265 VL - 9 IS - 3 N2 - OBJECTIVES: Home delivery of counselling and safety devices to prevent child injuries could help parents to adopt safe behaviour. The aim of this study was to test a safety kit designed and used in Quebec (Canada). DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: One hundred families from four towns in the Paris suburbs were visited at home by nurses or doctors when their child reached 6-9 months. Selection criteria were: primipara, medical problem, psychological, and/or socioeconomic difficulties. INTERVENTIONS: During the first visit, 50 families (group 1) received counselling and a kit including preventive devices and pamphlets about indoor injuries and ways to avoid them. The other 50 families (group 2) received counselling but not the kit. A second home visit was made 6-8 weeks later. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of safety improvements was calculated 6-8 weeks after a first home visit. Perceived usefulness of the kit was collected from families and from interviewers. RESULTS: Between the first and the second visits, safety improvement was significantly higher in the group with the kit. This was mainly related to the risk of fall (p < 0.02), fire and burns (p < 0.001), poisoning (p < 0.01), and suffocation (p < 0.001). For improvement related to devices provided in the kit, the difference between the groups was significant: 64.4% improvement in group 1 versus 41.2% in group 2 (p <0 .01). The relative risk (RR) of safety improvement between groups was 1.56 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35 to 1.80). Even for improvements not related to the kit the difference remained significant: 31.2% in group 1 versus 20.2% in group 2 (p < 0.05); RR = 1.54 (95% CI 1.22 to 1.93). CONCLUSION: Routine home visits by social services offer a good opportunity to tackle child injury prevention. Free delivery of prevention kits and counselling allow families to modify their behaviour and homes so as to reduce risks.
LA - en SN - 1353-8047 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.9.3.261 ID - ref1 ER -