Evaluation of The Period of PURPLE Crying, A Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Program

1. Evaluation of The Period of PURPLE Crying, A Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Program Laura Schwab Reese, MA1,2 Kimberly Kim, MPH3 Erin O. Heiden, MPH1,2 Jingzhen Yang, PhD, MPH4 1University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center, 2Department of Community & Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, 3Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, 4Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Kent State University Results Introduction Figure 1. Mother’s rating of the usefulness of the Period of PURPLE Crying (Scaled 1 to 10 with 1 as “Not Useful” and 10 as “Very Useful”) • Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a leading cause of death in children less than one year old. • The estimated annual incidence of SBS is 25-30 cases per 100,000 infants. • The Period of PURPLE Crying is an evidence-based SBS prevention program. • Study aims: • Evaluate The Period of PURPLE Crying as implemented in five local hospitals. • Measure program impact on mothers’ knowledge about normal infant crying, the dangers of shaking an infant, and techniques to soothe and cope with infant crying. • Of 211 baseline participants, 47% were first-time mothers and 58% had a college degree or more. Follow-up participants were demographically similar to the baseline sample. • Three-quarters (76%) of mothers rated The Period of PURPLE Crying program as very useful. • More nurses (92%) perceived mothers as motivated to share program content than mothers who reported intent to share (89%). • Only one-quarter (26%) of mothers watched the DVD while in the hospital, but more than half (59%) of mothers had viewed the DVD by two months post-discharge. • Over half (55%) of mothers received a perfect score on a knowledge test of normal infant crying and the dangers of shaking an infant. • More than half of mothers recalled (52%) or reported trying (59%) at least one soothing technique. However, fewer mothers recalled (38%) or reported trying (27%) at least one coping technique. Materials and Methods • A post-test only design. • Prior to discharge, all mothers who gave birth between March 15 – August 15, 2011 in five participating hospitals received the Period of PURPLE Crying education session from a trained nurse and were given a booklet and DVD to take home. • Mothers and nurses completed a survey following the intervention. Phone interviews were conducted with enrolled mothers two months after discharge. • Process Measures: mother/nurse agreement on five evaluation domains • Attitude towards the education session • Normal infant crying • Dangers of shaking an infant • Soothing and copying techniques • Motivation to share information • Outcome Measures: mothers’ • Knowledge of normal infant crying and dangers of shaking an infant • Techniques to soothe and cope with infant crying Discussion and Conclusions • Overall, the Period of PURPLE Crying intervention was successfully implemented and well-received by both mothers and nurses. • Regardless of education, age, and parity, mothers felt it was important to talk about SBS. • With limited time and resources, nurses were able to implement the program. • The successful implementation, combined with results from randomized control trial evaluations, support wide-spread dissemination of the program. • Future programs should encourage mothers to share content with their child’s other caregivers.