Effectiveness of Internet-based Injury Prevention Program in Enhancing Mother's Knowledge on Child Safety

Anticipatory Guidance, Child Safety, Chinese Mothers, Injury Prevention, Internet-based Intervention

Background: Provision of anticipatory guidance to parents is recommended as an effective strategy to prevent injuries among young children. Internet-based anticipatory guidance is suggested to reinforce the effectiveness of injury prevention, and improve parents' knowledge on child safety. Parents receiving the guidance can reduce children's exposure to injury risk by adopting better childcare practices and using appropriate child safety devices at home. Objective: This study will examine the effectiveness of Internet-based injury prevention program with parental anticipatory guidance in enhancing mothers' knowledge on child safety. It aims at increasing mothers' knowledge and motivation of learning about domestic injury prevention through a new Internet-based intervention model. It also targets to improve mothers' attitude and perceived behavioral control of domestic safety practice. Methods: The study would adopt a randomized controlled trial design and recruit 934 mothers from the antenatal clinics and postnatal wards of two major public hospitals in Hong Kong. Participating mothers will be randomized into the intervention or control group with equal likelihood. Mothers in intervention group will be provided with free access to an Internet-based injury prevention program with anticipatory guideline whereas those in the control group will receive relevant parenting booklet. Results: It is hypothesized that mothers' general and age-appropriate knowledge on child safety and motivation of learning about domestic injury prevention as the primary outcome measures will be enhanced. Conclusions: The Internet is increasingly recognized as a practical and cost-effective platform for health education and safety information delivery. The goals of this study are to examine the effectiveness of a new Internet-based intervention program for improving mothers' knowledge, and raising mothers' awareness about the importance and consequences caused by domestic injuries.