Evaluation of group well-child care for improving burn prevention practices in the home

The inclusion of counseling on home safety procedures has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a routine part of well-child care. However, few, if any, data exist to give direction to the pediatrician interested in advising parents about home safety. In the present study, 58 couples were randomly assigned, prospectively, to an experimental group and a control group. Both were enrolled in a single group well-child care class that lasted 90 minutes. The control group was provided with information and discussion on nutrition, dental care, safety in the car and home, child development, child rearing, illness management, and immunizations. The experimental group received information and discussion on the same topics, and they also received specific information on burn prevention: hot water heater settings and smoke detectors. On a subsequent home visit, 65% of the couples in the experimental group had their hot water temperature measured at 54.4 degrees C (130 degrees F) or less, whereas all of the couples in the control group had hot water temperatures of more than 54.4 degrees C (130 degrees F) (a significant difference). Although only one couple in the experimental group did not have an operational smoke detector, enough of the couples in the control group had operational smoke detectors that results were not significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)