The Effectiveness of Car Seat Checks at Routine Pediatric Visits

The University of Chicago

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Behavioral: Car Seat Check (behavior)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00152568

11119A

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of checking car seats during pediatric well-child visits on the use and properness of use of car seats for children 0-8 years. We are following up with families when they return for the next pediatric check up to see if they are appropriately using car seats for their children.

Full description

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the effectiveness of a car seat inspection at the time of a pediatric visit on the proper use of car seats 4-6 months later.

Motor vehicle-related injury is the leading cause of death of children. Proper restraint in a motor vehicle reduces the risk of fatality in a crash by approximately 70%. However, multiple studies have found approximately 85% of car seats are misused. Urban poor and minority populations have been found to have higher child passenger death rates, and may have lower car seat usage rates than the rest of the population. Child passenger safety (CPS) technicians trained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and certified by the American Automobile Association (AAA) capably check proper car seat usage in "check up" events, and operate recently established "fitting stations." However, we are not aware of an attempt to provide the CPS technical services to families attending a routine checkup with their medical provider.

This project will involve implementing and evaluating a program providing car seat checks at the time of routine pediatric visits at the Friend Family Health Center (FFHC). To determine if the car seat checks improve proper car seat use, children who receive the intervention will have their car seat use reassessed at the time of a scheduled return visit to their medical provider. The frequency of routinely scheduled health maintenance visits is greatest for the youngest children. Opportunities to collect follow up car seat use data therefore will be greatest for the youngest children. This evaluation will focus on 0 year olds. While we will also assess the older children and booster seat use, the sample size calculation for this study was determined for these younger children.

Enrollment: 364 patients

Sex: All

Ages: Under 8 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Children aged 0-8 years
• Child's family has a vehicle

Exclusion criteria

• Children over 8 years of age
• Child's family does not have a vehicle

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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364 participants in 1 patient group

Child Passenger Safety Technician services

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Car Seat Check (behavior)