The role of parental supervision on traffic injuries among 6 9 year old children
Background: Although many parents believe that childhood injuries are normative events or non reventable, inadequate supervision has been recognized as a leading contributor to child injuries in some studies. The objective of this paper is to determine the association between the level of parental supervision and childhood road traffic injuries in 6 to 9 year old children. Methods: In a case control study, 100 children who were taken to one of Shaheed Beheshti Medical University affiliated hospitals for traffic injuries were compared with 100 matched controls who had no history of a road traffic accident in the past one year. The level of parental supervision and characteristics of mother, child and road traffic accident was collected by self administered questionnaires and interviews according to ICD 10. Chi squared test, Fisheras exact test and Conditional Logistic Regression were used for data analysis. Findings: Children travel to and from their schools without adults' supervision was more common in cases (24% than controls (10% (P<0.01) Older children had a lower level of parental supervision for independent outdoor activities (P<0.001) and appropriate parental supervision was significantly higher in controls (24% compared with cases (8% (OR= 3.63, 95% CI: 1.45 9.38) Conclusion: Because of the important role of parental supervision in preventing traffic injuries among 6 to 9 year old children, in addition to environmental and legislation modifications, more attention needs to be paid to this issue. Language: fa