The Effectiveness of Car Seat Checks at Routine Pediatric Visits

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Car Seat Check (behavior)

Detailed 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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 364
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637
      • The University of Chicago

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 8 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Child Passenger Safety Technician services	Behavioral: Car Seat Check (behavior); At time of well child visit, family receives the services of a certified child passenger safety technician, including assessment, car seat distribution if needed and training.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Car seat us	median of 105.5 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Proper car seat use	86.5 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Chicago
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kyran Quinlan, M.D., M.P.H., University Of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Grossman DC, Garcia CC. Effectiveness of health promotion programs to increase motor vehicle occupant restraint use among young children. Am J Prev Med. 1999 Jan;16(1 Suppl):12-22. doi: 10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00120-2.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2001
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2003
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): September 9, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): September 5, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 4, 2013
• Last Verified: September 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Car Seat Check
• Other Study ID Numbers: 11119A