Journal of Public Health Medicine 22:307-311 (2000)
© 2000 Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom
How well do socio-demographic characteristics explain variation in childhood safety practices?
R Hapgood0,z
D Kendrick0
P Marsh1
0 Division of General Practice,
1 Division of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
z Corresponding author
E-mail: rhydian.hapgood@nottingham.ac.uk
Background.Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children older than 1 year. Deaths from accidents have a steeper class gradient than any other fatal condition and this inequality is widening. There are few published data on the relationship between safety practices and socio-demographic characteristics, hence this study has been undertaken to examine this relationship.
Method.The study population comprised all parents and guardians of children aged 3-12 months in 36 practices throughout Nottingham (n=2152). A postal questionnaire was used to survey current childcare safety practices (from which safe practices scores were derived), together with socio-demographic variables and known risk factors for childhood unintentional injury.
Results.Unsafe childcare practices were common. Socio-economically disadvantaged families had more unsafe practices than more affluent families, but few parents undertook safe practices all the time. The child's age (p<0.01), ethnicity (p<0.01) and living in non-owner-occupied accommodation (p<0.01) were independently associated with the safe practices score. Multivariate regression modelling showed that these risk factors explained only 11 per cent of the variation in the safety practices score. Socio-economic factors explained more of the variation in possession and use of items of safety equipment (13 per cent) than the variation in safety behaviours with no cost implications (3 per cent).
Conclusion.Most of the variation in the number of safety practices is not explained by socio-demographic characteristics and further work is required to examine other possible determinants of safe practice.
Keywords: injury prevention, childhood, inequalities
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