Evaluation of a mobile safety center’s impact on pediatric home safety behaviors

BACKGROUND: A Mobile Safety Center (MSC) provides safety resources to families to prevent pediatric injury. The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of an MSC on home safety behaviors. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study with 50 parents and guardians recruited at community events attended by an MSC. Participants completed a pre-test assessing demographics and home safety behaviors prior to participating in the MSC’s home safety educational program. We conducted follow-up with participants 4 weeks (follow-up 1) and 6 months (follow-up 2) after their visit to the MSC to reassess home safety behaviors. We used descriptive statistics in addition to Friedman, Wilcoxon sum-rank, and Fisher’s exact testing to analyze respondent demographics and changes in home safety practices. Friedman and Wilcoxon sum-rank testing was performed only for participants who completed all surveys. RESULTS: Of our 50 participants, 29 (58%) completed follow-up 1, 30 (60%) completed follow-up 2, and 26 (52%) completed both. Participants were more likely to have a fire-escape plan at follow-up 1 than on the pre-test (p = 0.014). They were also more likely to have the Poison Control Hotline number accessible in their cellphone or near a home phone at follow-up 1 compared to the pre-test (p = 0.002) and follow-up 2 compared to the pre-test (p < 0.001). Families with at least one household member who smoked or used e-cigarettes at any point during the study (n = 16 for the total population, n = 9 for those who completed both surveys) were less likely to have more than two smoke detectors installed at home during the pre-test (p = 0.049). However, this significantly changed across timepoints (p = 0.018), and while 44.4% reported more than two detectors during the pre-test, 88.9% reported this at both follow-ups. CONCLUSIONS: Home safety education through an MSC positively changed some reported safety behaviors and maintained these changes at long-term follow-up. By encouraging the adoption of better home safety practices, education at an MSC may decrease pediatric injury rates. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-11073-4.