Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai

BACKGROUND: Unintentional injuries to children are a major public health problem. The online social media is a potential way to implement health education for caregivers in online communities. Using WeChat, a free and popular social media service in China, this study evaluated the effectiveness of social online community-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries in children aged 0–3. METHODS: We recruited 365 parents from two community health centers in Shanghai and allocated them into intervention and control groups randomly. Follow-up lasted for one year. The intervention group received and followed their WeChat group and a WeChat official account for dissemination of reliable medical information. The control group received only the WeChat group. RESULTS: Between the intervention and control groups, changes in unintentional injuries (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.02–2.87, P = .04), preventability (β = 0.344, 95% CI: 0.152–0.537, P < .001), daily supervision behavior (β = 0.503, 95% CI: 0.036–0.970, P = .04), and behaviors for preventing specific injuries (β = 2.198, 95% CI: 1.530–2.865, P < .001) were significantly different, and change in first-aid skills for treating a tracheal foreign body were nearly significant (P = .06). CONCLUSIONS: The WeChat-group-based parental health education can reduce the occurrence of unintentional child injuries by improving parents’ skills, beliefs, and behaviors. Online social communities promote health education and reduce unintentional injuries among children. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR1900020753. Registered on January 17, 2019. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14462-5.