Suchergebnisse

A survey of OECD member countries was carried out to provide high level data on a consistent basis to identify and account for current patterns of child road safety . This paper reports the findings relating to children, aged 0-14 years, as pedestrians. Key survey elements included analyses of fatality data, relationships between socio-economic, demographic factors and fatality rates, and a questionnaire based survey. League tables based on average child pedestrian fatality rates were constructed for each OECD member country participating in our questionnaire enabling identification of the top five countries with the lowest pedestrian fatality rate as Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Denmark. Few countries had quantitative information about children's travel and its absence means that assessments are difficult about children's safety and the relative risks they face, especially as pedestrians. There are large variations in the amount of walking between countries and growing car use is becoming an issue in one third of OECD countries. The main findings from the questionnaire survey were that the majority of countries did not have information on high risk groups but of those that did, the cross cutting themes of socio-economic and ethnic minority groups, young children and urban areas were identified. Three characteristics distinguish top countries in the League table from those doing less well: a strong approach to the introduction of infrastructure measures for pedestrian safety, including low speed limits in residential areas; conducting road safety campaigns at least once a year; and having legislation which assumes driver responsibility in an accident involving a child pedestrian. Having compulsory road safety education for children aged 6-9 years was a characteristic shared by most countries, as was the promotion of child pedestrian education and training initiatives and the commissioning of research. However there is lower research activity in less well performing countries.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to report on a systematic review of the world literature to provide information about the most effective forms of health promotion interventions to reduce childhood (0-14 years) unintentional injuries. The findings are of relevance to policy makers at a local or national level, to practitioners and researchers. METHODS: The relevant literature has been identified through the use of electronic databases, hand searching of journals, scanning reference lists, and consultation with key informants. RESULTS: Examples of interventions that have been effective in reducing injury include: bicycle helmet legislation, area wide traffic calming measures, child safety restraint legislation, child resistant containers to prevent poisoning, and window bars to prevent falls. Interventions effective in changing behaviour include bicycle helmet education and legislation, child restraint legislation, child restraint loan schemes, child restraint educational campaigns, pedestrian education aimed at the child/parent, provision of smoke detectors, and parent education on home hazard reduction. For the community based campaigns, the key to success has been the sustained use of surveillance systems, the commitment of interagency cooperation and the time needed to develop networks and implement a range of interventions. Education, environmental modification and legislation all have a part to play and their effect in combination is important. CONCLUSION: The design of evaluations in injury prevention needs to be improved so that more reliable evidence can be obtained. Better information is needed on process, so that successful strategies can be replicated elsewhere. There is also a need for literature reviews on effectiveness to be updated regularly and for their findings to be widely disseminated to policy makers, researchers, and practitioners.