Parental Perception and Knowledge of Correct Use of Car Seats in Galveston County

1. Parental Perception and Knowledge of Correct Use of Car Seats in Galveston County Bishawn Morris, M.D. Dara Dallas, M.D.- Mentor April 1, 2004

3. OBJECTIVES To evaluate parents� perception and knowledge of correct placement of children in car safety seats To assess the need for effective education and installation services of car safety restraints

4. Background Information Review Current Literature National Highway Traffic Safety Administration field studies National Center for Statistics and Analysis

5. Children in motor vehicle collisions: analysis of injury by restraint use and seat location Retrospective chart review 499 children, nine years old and younger Assessed the frequency and severity of injuries as a function of age, restraint use, and seat position Results: 33% of children were unrestrained; 20% were improperly restrained

6. Unrestrained children had the highest mean Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scores (MAIS) and Injury Severity Scores (ISS) Improperly restrained children had the highest frequency of abdominal injuries The back seat was associated with fewer head injuries and lower MAIS & ISS Properly restrained children in the front seat had lower MAIS and ISS compared to unrestrained children in the back seat

7. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Eight of ten children are incorrectly buckled 97% of parents feel comfortable that they were using their child�s car safety seat correctly In 2001, of children < 1 involved in fatal MVC, 84% of those restrained in a child safety seat survived the crash compared to 42% unrestrained Placement in age-appropriate seats reduce child�s risk of dying by as much as two-thirds

8. Galveston County Child Death Residents Galveston County Child Fatality Review Team reviewed 254 cases in the last 7 years 9% of the cases reviewed were MVC 25 victims were occupants of MVC Only 5 victims were documented as restrained by seat belts or car seats

9. Main Hypothesis Parents believe their technique of restraining their children in a car safety seat is correct and that their child will be safely protected in case of an crash.

10. Additional Hypotheses Increasing parental age is associated with proper restraining technique Parents with previous children are more likely to use correct restraining technique than new parents Parents with a higher level of education are more likely to use correct restraining technique than parents with a lower level of education

11. Materials/Methods Survey 110 parents/caregivers Inclusion criteria Parents or legal guardians Surveys were issued to parents at UTMB PCG- Harborside, UTMB Regional Maternal /Child Clinic in Texas City, and Trinity Episcopal Beginning School State Farm �Best Practices for Child Passenger Safety� was issued to each parent

12. Materials/Methods Demographics Age Education Ethnicity Number of Children Relation to the Child Parental knowledge of car safety seats and proper placement Six survey questions were scored and the data were analyzed using chi-square analysis

13. Results

14. Demographics

15. Consistency of Car seat placement

16. Car safety seats for children

17. Specific Knowledge Questions Is it safe to place a 2 month old child in a forward-facing infant seat in the front seat of a car? No, the child should be in rear-facing in back seat. (90% answered correctly) When is forward-facing car seats appropriate for a child? At least 12 months and weighing 20 lbs. (45% answered correctly)

18. Specific Knowledge Questions At what weight should your child be placed in a booster seat? 40 � 80 lbs. (42% answered correctly) Where should the harness chest clip of the car safety seat be placed on children? At the armpit level. (63% answered correctly)

19. Specific Knowledge Questions When is it safe to place your child in a regular seat belt? More than 80 lbs. and at least 4 ft. 9 in. (33% answered correctly) According to Texas State law, a child should be in a car seat up to what age? Age four. (41% answered correctly)

20. Total Scores

21. Parental Age vs Score

22. Education vs Score

23. Ethnicity vs Score

24. Child�s Age vs Car Seat Type

25. Do you feel that a car safety seat inspection station available to you would be helpful to teach you correct car seat placements? (84% answered �YES�)

26. Conclusions Most parents restrain their children in car safety seats. There was a tendency for parental age to be associated with knowledge of car safety seats Level of education did not correlate with parental knowledge of car safety seats. Having previous children did not correlate with a parental knowledge of proper use of car safety seats.

27. Conclusions The older the child, the less knowledgeable parents seem to be about the proper way to restrain their child. Overall, parents need to be better educated about car safety seats. Most parents feel they would benefit from having car safety seat inspection available.

28. Limitations of Study Larger Sample Size Distribution of Survey Interpretation of the Questions The Truth Factor

29. Overall Goals of Advocacy Project Provide feedback to health care providers in order to give parents helpful information in regards to restraining their children correctly and most of all safely in car seats. . Information from this survey may help institute services that will provide parents the opportunity to have their car safety seat inspected for correct placement by officials.

30. Thank you!!!! Dr. Dara Dallas Dr. David Rassin Dr. Sharla Hays Dr. Jacquelin Dewbre