The challenge of compiling data profiles to stimulate local preventive health action: a European case study from child safety

OBJECTIVES: Positive recent experience of presenting comparative child safety data at national level has instigated policy action in Europe. It was hoped a Child Safety Index could quantify how safe a community, region or locality is for its children in comparison with similar areas within Europe, as a focus for local targeted action. METHODS: Validated indicators proposed by previous European projects identified from areas of child injury prevention, such as road safety, burns or poisoning, were selected to give a balanced profile, and populated from available published data. An index using a sub-score for each specific injury topic was proposed. The indicators’ presentation, sensitivity and appropriateness were considered, as well as data availability. RESULTS: Satisfactory indicators were not identified for all areas and very few local area data were available. This forced the researchers to conclude that at present, constructing a reliable Child Safety Index for use at the local level is not feasible. CONCLUSIONS: There is a worrying lack of data available at the sub-national level to support injury prevention, evaluate interventions, and enable informed local decision making.