Car and home safety for children. An Israeli study

Injury is the primary reason for death among Israeli children older than one year of age, with road accidents as the leading cause. Experience from other countries has shown that up to 75% of such injuries are preventable. A sample of 705 Jewish parents with 1,345 children younger than 15 years of age was selected as a stratified random sample from 70 towns and cities. Parents were interviewed over the phone by professional interviewers. Knowledge and behavior about home safety showed that only 106 parents (15%) answered correctly on all five home-safety questions. Behavior about home safety concerned three measures: smoke detectors, window bars, and the placement of cleaning chemicals. Only 16 parents (2.3%) reported appropriate behavior about these three measures (see Table 3). Knowledge and behavior about car safety showed only three parents (0.4%) had answered correctly all seven car-safety knowledge questions. The question that most parents (98.9%) did not answer correctly was the age that a baby should still be restrained facing the rear of the car (see Table 4). Parents who demonstrated a higher level of knowledge of age-appropriate car-safety rules also practiced a higher level of proper car restraining behavior with their children (p<0.05). Health care workers should continue to be active in the effort to increase the safety of children. Safety should be discussed with parents repeatedly in every possible medical encounter. The goal must be to decrease childhood injury in Israel to the level of that in Scandinavian countries.