The home environment: prevention of general home accidents
| Author, date, and country | Injury target group and setting | Aims and content of intervention | Study type and sample size | Outcome measures | Key results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C = control; I = intervention. | |||||
| Bablouzian et al (1997),1 USA | Preschool. Low income. Home setting | Healthy Baby Program Home visits, counselling, and safety assessment | Before and after study I=72 | (A) Observed hazards (B) Knowledge | (A) Reduction for 4 hazards. (B) Reported increased use of safety restraints in cars Partially effectiveReasonable/weak evidence |
| Clamp and Kendrick (1998),2 UK | 0–5 years. Low income. Primary care settings | General practitioner safety advice. Single 20 minutes consultation. Subsidised smoke alarms and other safety equipment | Randomised controlled trial I=83 families C=82 families | (A) Reported behaviour Use of safety equipment | (A) Use of safety equipment increased in I families (for example, fireguards 36/65 v 19/60 controls) Effective in short termGood/reasonable evidence |
| Thompson et al (1998),3 UK | Under 5 years. Low income areas. Home | Home safety equipment loan schemes and health visitor counselling | Before and after study | A and E attendance data | Home accidents in children under 5 10% decrease 1990–94. Not able to demonstrate effect on injury outcomes Inconclusive Reasonable/weak evidence |
| Kendrick et al (1999),4 UK | 0–2 years. Primary care. Component targeting deprived community | I=targeted advice, low cost safety equipment, home safety checks and first aid training C=routine child surveillance | Randomised controlled trial I=18 GP practices n=1124 children C=18 GP practices n=1028 children | (A) Medically attended injuries. (B) Self reported behaviour. (C) Knowledge. (D) Penetration of intervention | (A) No significant differences between I and C groups. (B) No differences in unsafe practices between I and C. (C) No differences in knowledge in I and C. (D) In I 22% no interventions, 27% 1 intervention IneffectiveGood/reasonable evidence |