Parental knowledge of child development and injury risks

The hypothesis that the risk of injury to children is related to (1) parents' assessment of the child's developmental abilities, and (2) parents' knowledge of injury prevention measures was tested by a two-part self-administered questionnaire, completed by 118 parents. The developmental score correlated with the score on the safety questionnaires and with educational level of the respondent. There was a small but nonsignificant correlation of both scores with injury in the preceding month. Knowledge of safety practices was low for many items. Results indicate the need to improve parental knowledge of injury prevention and to educate parents about normal childhood development.