Interventions to prevent accidental injuries in children between 7 and 13 years of age / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Accidents are an important cause of childhood injury. It is hypothesized that safety education programs can reduce accidents in primary school-aged children. This study aimed to determine whether child and parent safety education programs can decrease the incidence of accidental injury in children when compared with controls.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The study population (aged 7-13 years) were recruited from four local primary schools, and randomly assigned into an Intervention or a Control group. The Intervention group received child and parent safety education and was taught injury prevention strategies. The Control group received no injury prevention education or intervention. The incidence of accidental injury was compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the first year after intervention the incidence of accidental injury was 262 cases in the Intervention group (8.26%) and 234 cases (8.67%) in the Control group (P > 0.05). In the second year after intervention, however, the incidence of accidental injury was significantly less in the Intervention group (211 cases, 6.54%) compared with the Control group (229 cases, 8.63%) (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Injury prevention strategies and child and parent safety education can reduce risks of accidental injury in children.</p>