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104 Parents’ risk perception about childrens’ injuries and burns: a multidimensional unfolding technique
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  1. Veronica Diaz1,
  2. Frank Busing2,
  3. Maria Orozco1,
  4. Alfredo Celis1,
  5. Ariel Miranda3,
  6. Patricia Mendoza1
  1. 1University of Guadalajara, Mexico
  2. 2Leiden University, The Netherlands
  3. 3Hospital “Dr. Juan I. Menchaca”, Mexico

Abstract

Background Unintentional injuries are a significant issue of public health, accounting 60% of infant mortality around the globe. In Mexico, burns are the most frequent injury at home. This research explores parents risk perceptions about children’s injuries and burns.

Methods Multidimensional unfolding is a technique that maps ranking data into a low-multidimensional space that allows for a visual comprehension of the data. 28 parents of Guadalajara, Mexico (15 mothers, 13 fathers), were asked to sort three series of cards (adverse events, agents that could cause a burn, and people who take care of a child) by two different criteria: probability and severity. The last series was sorted only by probability.

Results The five perceptual maps have two dimensions, which show two sets of objects each: the subjects (the sample of 28 parents) as numbers, and the objects (either adverse events, agents that could cause a burn or people who take care of a child) as labels. The closer a number is to a label, the more probable or severe the label is considered by that number. Unfolding also permits for sub-dimensions or clusters in the configuration. Parents perceived as more probable to happen: fall, choking, and cut. They did not considered cut and fall as severe. Sun, hot liquids, and hot objects were the most probable agents. None perceived sun, ice, hot objects, smoke, and steam as severe agents. Mother and father were considered the least probable to experience a children’s injury.

Conclusions Multidimensional unfolding is an exploratory technique; ideal for research for the first time in Mexico, parents perceived risks or not. For example, smoke was perceived as not probable to cause a burn and ignore as severe. According to the World Health Organisation, burns include the respiratory damage resulting from smoke, being the most frequent cause of death. Parents were omitting important information. This is only the first step, is essential further investigation in this area.

  • Injuries
  • Burns
  • Risk Perception
  • Multidimensional Unfolding

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