Effectiveness of hands-on education for correct child restraint use by parents

Abstract

This study evaluates whether a hands-on educational intervention makes a significant difference in the proper use of a child passenger restraint by a parent. The clinical trial design included a sample of 111 parents who were at least seven months pregnant and who were randomly assigned to one of two groups (56 intervention and 55 control). All participants received a free car seat and a standardized education session on the safety and use of child passenger restraints. The experimental group received an additional component consisting of a hands-on demonstration and return demonstration of correct installation and use in their own vehicle. Follow up observation for correctness of use was done after birth using a standardized tool. A total of 24 (22%) parents correctly used the car seat; of these, 18 (32%) were in the intervention group and 6 (11%) were in the control group. The intervention group was 4 times more likely to have correct use than the control group (odds ratio 4.3, P value=0.0074). The range for the number of errors per person was 0 to 7, with the majority (70%) having 0 to 2. The rate of errors was 33% less in the intervention group (ratio of 0.67). There were few serious errors in either group. No secondary variable (age, education, income, or help from others) had a significant effect on the outcome. The hands-on educational intervention made a significant difference in the proper use of a child passenger restraint by a parent. This study demonstrates the value of hands-on teaching for learning how to install and use a child car seat.

The Impact of New Legislation on Child Restraint System (CRS) Misuse and Inappropriate Use in Australia

“…However, the provision of a hands-on demonstration of correct use has been shown to have a positive effect on correct use (Lane et al 2000;Tessier 2010 …”

Comparison of the effectiveness of hands-on versus online education in child passenger safety

“…However, hands-on education may be more effective in improving CPS knowledge and skills with lasting results. Education is most successful when the following are met: CPS programmes have access to a car seat, written materials are available for the parents to take home, the proper use of the seat is demonstrated and counselling is provided by a care provider 23. Teaching the correct installation of a CPS involves psychomotor skills with cognitive reinforcement.…”

A theoretical perspective on road safety communication campaigns

“…Correctly installing a child restraint is, however, complicated and not all parents do it correctly. Information about how to correctly install a child restraint in a car can therefore be very effective and increase the correct use of child restraints substantially (Tessier, 2010;Brown et al, 2011).…”