Effect of a Home Safety Supervisory Program on Occurrence of Childhood Injuries: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of home safety supervisory program on improvement in childhood safety, self-reported home hazard of caregivers, and caregivers' supervisory attitude. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING AND SUBJECT Caregivers of children between 2 to 5 years of age residing in selected villages in Karnataka. INTERVENTION Intervention group was administered Home safety supervisory program (HSSP), whereas the control group received teaching on child care. RESULT The intervention group had a significant reduction in the frequency of childhood injuries when compared with the control group [MD (95% CI) 8.96 vs 3.37], after the administration of Home safety supervisory program. There was a significant difference in the mean baseline scores of caregivers self-reported home hazard practices between the two groups (P<0.001), and improvement in the supervisory attitudes of caregivers in the intervention group (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Appropriate and effective home hazard reduction teaching reduces home injuries in children. The improved awareness of caregivers in child safety, and child supervision emphasizes the importance of this program.