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Parents' adherence to pediatric health and safety guidelines: Importance of patient-provider relationships
Lindsay N Fuzzell1, A Scott LaJoie2, Kyle T Smith1
1Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Division of Public Health Sciences, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Insights
Effective parent-provider communication significantly improves adherence to pediatric health and safety guidelines. Building trust and comfort discussing recommendations are key to ensuring children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Health Communication
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Parental adherence to pediatric health and safety guidelines is crucial for child well-being.
- Effective communication between healthcare providers and parents is a cornerstone of promoting health and safety practices.
- Factors influencing adherence, such as trust and self-efficacy, require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of parent-provider communication on adherence to pediatric health and safety guidelines.
- To assess the roles of parental trust, comfort discussing guidelines, agreement with advice, and self-efficacy in guideline adherence.
- To examine adherence across various guidelines including vaccinations, car seats, safe sleep, and injury prevention.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 256 parents of children aged 0-6 years.
- The survey assessed communication, trust, comfort, agreement, and self-efficacy related to specific health and safety guidelines.
- Multivariable regression models were used to analyze the association between communication and adherence, and between psychological factors and overall adherence.
Main Results:
- Communication regarding most guidelines (e.g., furniture anchoring, sunscreen, vaccinations, car seats, safe sleep) was positively associated with adherence.
- Communication about firearm safety and trampoline use showed no significant or inverse association with adherence, respectively.
- Parental trust, agreement with advice, self-efficacy, and comfort discussing guidelines were all strong positive predictors of total guideline adherence.
Conclusions:
- Provider communication is a critical factor in promoting adherence to pediatric health and safety guidelines.
- Building trusting relationships and fostering open dialogue enhances parental confidence and adherence.
- Healthcare providers should prioritize respectful engagement and communication to support guideline adherence effectively.
Objective:
To examine 1) parent-provider communication about pediatric health/safety guidelines, 2) trust in child's provider, 3) comfort discussing guidelines, 4) agreement with guideline advice, 5) self-efficacy following guidelines, and their impact on guideline adherence.
Method:
256 parents of children ages 0-6 completed an online survey about sunscreen use, newborn Vitamin K injections, influenza vaccination, routine vaccination, car seats, infant safe sleep, furniture anchoring, large trampoline use, and firearm safety. Multivariable models regressed: 1) communication about each guideline on parents' corresponding guideline adherence; 2) trust, comfort discussing guidelines, agreement with guideline advice, self-efficacy, on parents' total guideline adherence.
Results:
Communication about furniture anchoring (OR = 2.26), sunscreen (OR = 5.28), Vitamin K injections (OR = 3.20), influenza vaccination (OR = 13.71), routine vaccination (OR = 6.43), car seats (OR = 6.15), and infant safe sleep (OR = 3.40) related to corresponding guideline adherence (ps < 0.05). Firearm safety communication was not related to adherence (OR = 1.11, n.s.). Trampoline communication related to lower likelihood of trampoline guideline adherence (OR = 0.24, p = 0.001). Agreement with guideline advice (β = 0.35), trust (β = 0.34), self-efficacy (β = 0.45), comfort discussing guidelines (β = 0.35) positively related to total guideline adherence (ps < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Findings underscore the importance of provider communication about health/safety guidelines.
Practice Implications:
Providers should respectfully engage and build relationships with parents to support health/safety guideline adherence.
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