A randomized controlled trial of a video module to increase U.S. poison center use by low-income parents

U.S. poison centers decrease medical visits by providing telephone advice for home management of potential poisonings, but are underutilized by low-income African-American and Latino parents, and those with limited English proficiency, due to lack of knowledge and misconceptions about poison centers.

To assess the effectiveness of a poison prevention video module in improving knowledge, behavior, and behavioral intention concerning use of poison centers in a population of low-income, language-diverse adults attending parenting courses offered by a community organization.

A randomized, blinded, controlled trial was conducted at 16 parenting course sites of a community organization and included 297 participants. The organization's instructors presented the video module (intervention) or the usual class curriculum (control). Participants completed questionnaires at baseline and a telephone interview 2-4 weeks later. Changes from baseline to follow-up were compared between the intervention and control groups using analysis of variance and Chi-square tests. Intervention group participants were stratified by English proficiency and compared to assess baseline and follow-up responses by language.

After the intervention, participants in the intervention group had a significantly greater increase in knowledge about the poison center, were more likely to have the correct poison center phone number at home, and had greater behavioral intention to use the poison center compared to control group participants. At baseline, Spanish-primary-language participants with limited English proficiency had less knowledge about the poison center, were less likely to have the poison center number at home, and had lower behavioral intention to use the poison center than English proficient participants, but significantly improved after the intervention.

This video module, when presented by a community organization's instructors, was highly effective in improving knowledge, behavior, and behavioral intention concerning use of poison centers within a low-income, language-diverse population.