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Original research
Evaluation of an intervention to reduce child injury in Bedouin communities in Southern Israel
  1. Vicki Myers1,
  2. Gali Malkin2,
  3. Natalie Nir2,
  4. Daniella Orr2,
  5. Orna Baron-Epel1
  1. 1 School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
  2. 2 Beterem Safe Kids Israel, Petah Tikva, Central, Israel
  1. Correspondence to Dr Vicki Myers, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel; vicki_myers{at}hotmail.com

Abstract

Background Child injury is particularly prevalent in low socioeconomic populations and minorities. In Israel, Bedouin children exhibit high rates of injuries and death. A multifaceted community intervention to reduce injury in children in and around the home was run in nine Bedouin communities in Southern Israel during 2014–2018. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the intervention on injuries among children aged 0–4 by comparing emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalisations before and after the intervention.

Methods Child injury data (ages 0–4, 5–17) for 2013–2018 were obtained from Soroka Medical Center, including ER visits and hospitalisations. Further data on reason for hospitalisation and injury severity score (ISS) were obtained from the National Centre for Trauma Research for 2011–2018. Reach was assessed by calculating the per cent of participants from the total relevant population in each town. Poisson regression was used to assess change over time, from preintervention (2013) to postintervention (2018).

Results A high proportion of educational institutions took part in the intervention, and around 20% of relevant households received a home visit (n=6334). There was a significant reduction in ER visits (7.6%) in children aged 0–4 in 2018 compared with 2013. Hospitalisations did not decrease significantly, although the number of admissions for burns and falls was reduced significantly at follow-up.

Conclusions This multifaceted intervention programme resulted in reduced injury in children aged 0–4 years in the Bedouin community. The use of simultaneous multiple intervention methods was effective in increasing child safety.

  • child
  • behaviour change
  • public health
  • longitudinal
  • programme evaluation
  • rural

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2020-044013

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @vickijmyers

    • Contributors VM contributed to study design, analysis and interpretation of data, and wrote the initial draft. GM was involved in evaluation of the programme, reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content and approved the final version. NN was involved in study design, provided data and reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content, and approved the final version. DO contributed to acquisition of data, reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version. OB-E contributed to study design, analysis and interpretation of data, reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content, and approved the final version.

    • Funding Funding was received from Beterem Safe Kids Israel.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.