Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai
Abstract Background Unintentional injuries to children are a major public health problem. The online social media is a potential way to implement health education for caregivers in online communities. Using WeChat, a free and popular social media service in China, this study evaluated the effectiven...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14462-5 |
| _version_ | 1811318026494017536 |
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| author | Yuheng Feng Xueqi Ma Qi Zhang Ruo Jiang Jun Lu Kaiyue Chen Huiping Wang Qinghua Xia Jicui Zheng Jingwei Xia Xiaohong Li |
| author_facet | Yuheng Feng Xueqi Ma Qi Zhang Ruo Jiang Jun Lu Kaiyue Chen Huiping Wang Qinghua Xia Jicui Zheng Jingwei Xia Xiaohong Li |
| author_sort | Yuheng Feng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Unintentional injuries to children are a major public health problem. The online social media is a potential way to implement health education for caregivers in online communities. Using WeChat, a free and popular social media service in China, this study evaluated the effectiveness of social online community-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries in children aged 0–3. Methods We recruited 365 parents from two community health centers in Shanghai and allocated them into intervention and control groups randomly. Follow-up lasted for one year. The intervention group received and followed their WeChat group and a WeChat official account for dissemination of reliable medical information. The control group received only the WeChat group. Results Between the intervention and control groups, changes in unintentional injuries (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.02–2.87, P = .04), preventability (β = 0.344, 95% CI: 0.152–0.537, P < .001), daily supervision behavior (β = 0.503, 95% CI: 0.036–0.970, P = .04), and behaviors for preventing specific injuries (β = 2.198, 95% CI: 1.530–2.865, P < .001) were significantly different, and change in first-aid skills for treating a tracheal foreign body were nearly significant (P = .06). Conclusions The WeChat-group-based parental health education can reduce the occurrence of unintentional child injuries by improving parents’ skills, beliefs, and behaviors. Online social communities promote health education and reduce unintentional injuries among children. Trial registration ChiCTR1900020753. Registered on January 17, 2019. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:19:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2de71191bca488ba5fdf43769021930 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:19:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2de71191bca488ba5fdf437690219302022-12-22T02:47:16ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582022-11-0122111210.1186/s12889-022-14462-5Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in ShanghaiYuheng Feng0Xueqi Ma1Qi Zhang2Ruo Jiang3Jun Lu4Kaiyue Chen5Huiping Wang6Qinghua Xia7Jicui Zheng8Jingwei Xia9Xiaohong Li10Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversitySchool of Community and Environmental Health, Old Dominion UniversityDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityCommunity Health Center of Jiading Town, Jiading DistrictChangning District Center for Disease Control and PreventionAffiliated Pediatric Hospital of Fudan UniversityShanghai Huangpu District Maternal and Child Health Care InstituteDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityAbstract Background Unintentional injuries to children are a major public health problem. The online social media is a potential way to implement health education for caregivers in online communities. Using WeChat, a free and popular social media service in China, this study evaluated the effectiveness of social online community-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries in children aged 0–3. Methods We recruited 365 parents from two community health centers in Shanghai and allocated them into intervention and control groups randomly. Follow-up lasted for one year. The intervention group received and followed their WeChat group and a WeChat official account for dissemination of reliable medical information. The control group received only the WeChat group. Results Between the intervention and control groups, changes in unintentional injuries (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.02–2.87, P = .04), preventability (β = 0.344, 95% CI: 0.152–0.537, P < .001), daily supervision behavior (β = 0.503, 95% CI: 0.036–0.970, P = .04), and behaviors for preventing specific injuries (β = 2.198, 95% CI: 1.530–2.865, P < .001) were significantly different, and change in first-aid skills for treating a tracheal foreign body were nearly significant (P = .06). Conclusions The WeChat-group-based parental health education can reduce the occurrence of unintentional child injuries by improving parents’ skills, beliefs, and behaviors. Online social communities promote health education and reduce unintentional injuries among children. Trial registration ChiCTR1900020753. Registered on January 17, 2019.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14462-5WeChat-basedParentsUnintentional injuryCommunity-basedHealth education interventionRandomized controlled trial |
| spellingShingle | Yuheng Feng Xueqi Ma Qi Zhang Ruo Jiang Jun Lu Kaiyue Chen Huiping Wang Qinghua Xia Jicui Zheng Jingwei Xia Xiaohong Li Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai BMC Public Health WeChat-based Parents Unintentional injury Community-based Health education intervention Randomized controlled trial |
| title | Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai |
| title_full | Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai |
| title_short | Effectiveness of WeChat-group-based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0–3: randomized controlled trial in Shanghai |
| title_sort | effectiveness of wechat group based parental health education in preventing unintentional injuries among children aged 0 3 randomized controlled trial in shanghai |
| topic | WeChat-based Parents Unintentional injury Community-based Health education intervention Randomized controlled trial |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14462-5 |
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