Child Safety Seat Knowledge Among Postpartum Mothers
Child Safety Seat Knowledge Among Postpartum Mothers
Background: To help direct future educational efforts, this study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes relating to child safety seat use in an urban postpartum population.
Methods: An oral survey was administered to postpartum patients at two urban hospitals (one private and one public) to collect demographic information and to assess knowledge of proper use of a child safety seat.
Results: Mothers in the private hospital scored higher on knowledge assessment than those in the public hospital. The most important factors relating to knowledge were maternal education and reported previous child safety seat education, while having a previous child had no significant influence.
Conclusions: In this urban setting, educational interventions are most needed in mothers with lower levels of education, and mothers with previous children should be included in such efforts. Additional investigation is needed to enhance infant safety for a large number of mothers who travel by public transportation.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in children, with children less than 5 years of age accounting for 575 deaths in the United States in 1998. In more than half of these deaths, the child was unrestrained, despite the known effectiveness of child safety seats in reducing morbidity and mortality in such crashes. In addition, child safety seats are effective in reducing noncrash injuries such as those that occur with sudden stops, turns, and opening the door of a moving vehicle. Among the many factors related to child safety seat use, driver restraint use, and younger child age are directly related to increased use. Studies have reported conflicting results when evaluating the factors of parental education and income levels.
In addition to nonuse, misuse of child safety seats significantly limits the benefits these seats can provide. Nationally, child safety seats are misused more than 80% of the time. A recent observational study reported 96% child safety seat use for children less than 20 pounds, but only 21% were used correctly. With increasing child age and size, use rates decline while misuse rates remain high. Child safety seat misuse has been associated with injuries ranging from minor bruises to severe head trauma and accounts for 7% of all trauma-related emergency room visits for this age group. Misuse occurs frequently because parents lack knowledge or understanding about the benefits of child safety seats. Information sources often contain superficial information focusing on the importance of child safety seat use and not the proper recommendations for use. Appropriate manufacturers' instructions and prenatal instructors have been shown to have a positive effect on parental knowledge. The complexity of the proper use of some child safety seats has resulted in requests for designs that are more user friendly, especially for users with lower educational levels.
With the frequency of child safety seat nonuse and misuse, and the risks involved, there is a role for intervention. The postpartum period has been proposed as an ideal time to reinforce child safety seat information for new parents. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and attitudes relating to child safety seat use in a postpartum population in two urban hospitals to determine where educational interventions should be directed.
Background: To help direct future educational efforts, this study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes relating to child safety seat use in an urban postpartum population.
Methods: An oral survey was administered to postpartum patients at two urban hospitals (one private and one public) to collect demographic information and to assess knowledge of proper use of a child safety seat.
Results: Mothers in the private hospital scored higher on knowledge assessment than those in the public hospital. The most important factors relating to knowledge were maternal education and reported previous child safety seat education, while having a previous child had no significant influence.
Conclusions: In this urban setting, educational interventions are most needed in mothers with lower levels of education, and mothers with previous children should be included in such efforts. Additional investigation is needed to enhance infant safety for a large number of mothers who travel by public transportation.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in children, with children less than 5 years of age accounting for 575 deaths in the United States in 1998. In more than half of these deaths, the child was unrestrained, despite the known effectiveness of child safety seats in reducing morbidity and mortality in such crashes. In addition, child safety seats are effective in reducing noncrash injuries such as those that occur with sudden stops, turns, and opening the door of a moving vehicle. Among the many factors related to child safety seat use, driver restraint use, and younger child age are directly related to increased use. Studies have reported conflicting results when evaluating the factors of parental education and income levels.
In addition to nonuse, misuse of child safety seats significantly limits the benefits these seats can provide. Nationally, child safety seats are misused more than 80% of the time. A recent observational study reported 96% child safety seat use for children less than 20 pounds, but only 21% were used correctly. With increasing child age and size, use rates decline while misuse rates remain high. Child safety seat misuse has been associated with injuries ranging from minor bruises to severe head trauma and accounts for 7% of all trauma-related emergency room visits for this age group. Misuse occurs frequently because parents lack knowledge or understanding about the benefits of child safety seats. Information sources often contain superficial information focusing on the importance of child safety seat use and not the proper recommendations for use. Appropriate manufacturers' instructions and prenatal instructors have been shown to have a positive effect on parental knowledge. The complexity of the proper use of some child safety seats has resulted in requests for designs that are more user friendly, especially for users with lower educational levels.
With the frequency of child safety seat nonuse and misuse, and the risks involved, there is a role for intervention. The postpartum period has been proposed as an ideal time to reinforce child safety seat information for new parents. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and attitudes relating to child safety seat use in a postpartum population in two urban hospitals to determine where educational interventions should be directed.
