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The cost and availability of devices for preventing childhood injuries
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
Child safety devices are crucial for preventing injuries, but their high cost and limited availability in Newcastle pose a significant barrier for Australian families, especially single-parent households.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Injury Prevention
- Child Safety
Background:
- Accidental injury is a leading cause of mortality in Australian children.
- Child safety devices, recommended by the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia (CAPFA), can prevent many injuries.
- Low usage rates may stem from poor availability and high costs of these devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the availability and cost of CAPFA-recommended safety devices in a medium-sized Australian city.
- To evaluate the affordability of these devices for families with young children.
Main Methods:
- Survey of safety device availability in Newcastle, Australia.
- Cost analysis of purchasing and installing 17 CAPFA-recommended devices.
- Comparison of total cost against disposable income for families and single-parent households.
Main Results:
- Only 10 out of 17 recommended safety devices were readily available in Newcastle.
- The total cost for all recommended devices was $1516.
- This cost represented 21.4% of disposable income for families and 75.5% for single-parent households.
Conclusions:
- The cost of essential child safety devices may be prohibitively expensive for many Australian families.
- Financial barriers could disproportionately affect families most vulnerable to child injury.
- Improved accessibility and affordability strategies are needed to promote child safety device use.
Abstract:
Accidental injury is the major cause of death among Australian children. Many childhood injuries are preventable through the use of safety devices such as those recommended by the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia (CAPFA). It has been suggested that poor availability and the high cost of obtaining and installing safety devices may contribute to their low rates of use among families with young children. This paper assesses the availability and cost of recommended safety devices in a medium sized city in Australia. Of the 17 devices recommended by the CAPFA only 10 were readily available in Newcastle. The cost of purchasing and installing all the devices recommended by CAPFA amounted to $1516, or 21.4% of the annual disposable income, after the purchase of necessities, of families with children and 75.5% of the annual disposable income, after purchase of necessities, of single parents. It is argued that the cost of safety devices may be prohibitively expensive, particularly for those most at risk of suffering from injury.