Impact of the national home safety equipment scheme 'Safe At Home' on hospital admissions for unintentional injury in children under 5: a controlled interrupted time series analysis

Hill, Trevor, Coupland, Carol, Kendrick, Denise, Jones, Matthew, Akbari, Ashley, Rodgers, Sarah ORCID: 0000-0002-4483-0845, Watson, Michael Craig, Tyrrell, Edward, Merrill, Sheila and Orton, Elizabeth (2022) Impact of the national home safety equipment scheme 'Safe At Home' on hospital admissions for unintentional injury in children under 5: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH, 76 (1). pp. 53-59.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-216613

Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Unintentional home injuries are a leading cause of preventable death in young children. Safety education and equipment provision improve home safety practices, but their impact on injuries is less clear. Between 2009 and 2011, a national home safety equipment scheme was implemented in England (Safe At Home), targeting high-injury-rate areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged families with children under 5. This provided a 'natural experiment' for evaluating the scheme's impact on hospital admissions for unintentional injuries.<h4>Methods</h4>Controlled interrupted time series analysis of unintentional injury hospital admission rates in small areas (Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs)) in England where the scheme was implemented (intervention areas, n=9466) and matched with LSOAs in England and Wales where it was not implemented (control areas, n=9466), with subgroup analyses by density of equipment provision.<h4>Results</h4>57 656 homes receiving safety equipment were included in the analysis. In the 2 years after the scheme ended, monthly admission rates declined in intervention areas (-0.33% (-0.47% to -0.18%)) but did not decline in control areas (0.04% (-0.11%-0.19%), p value for difference in trend=0.001). Greater reductions in admission rates were seen as equipment provision density increased. Effects were not maintained beyond 2 years after the scheme ended.<h4>Conclusions</h4>A national home safety equipment scheme was associated with a reduction in injury-related hospital admissions in children under 5 in the 2 years after the scheme ended. Providing a higher number of items of safety equipment appears to be more effective in reducing injury rates than providing fewer items.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	accidents, epidemiology, injury, public health
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2021 09:38
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 21:19
DOI:	10.1136/jech-2021-216613
Open Access URL:	https://jech.bmj.com/content/76/1/53
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3145474