Peculiarities of the physical trauma of children aged 2-5 years and the assessment of a safe environment from the perspective of parents

Work objective. Evaluation the peculiarities of physical trauma of children aged 2-5 years and assurance of safe environment for traumatized and not traumatized children from parent’s perspective. Methods. The study took place in January – December 2017 at Children's Hospital, Branch of Santaros Clinics of the Vilnius University Hospital. A total of 339 parents were interviewed for the period of study nursing children aged 2-5 years, treated in the Pediatric Traumatology, Pediatric Surgery and Daily Surgery departments. Two groups of parents were investigated: parents who had children with physical trauma, and parents whose children did not suffer physical injuries. The questionnaire was compiled using a questionnaire developed by the Carolinas Medical Center in Carolinas Center for Injury Prevention (USA). The study received Bioethics Center permission. Results. In the most cases - 45.8% children were traumatized at home. The child was almost always under the care of adults during the injury - 88.0% of all cases. Incidence of falls was 66.9 %, at the second place were burns - 9.6%. From head injuries suffered 40.4% and from hand injuries - 30.7% of children. Injuries were more common in boys - 55.4%. For fire prevention 33% of the houses had smoke alarms. 72.6% of all parents cooked food on distant heating elements and directed the dishes from the edge of the cooker. When preparing food 50.7% of parents allowed the child to play in the kitchen. 49.3% of parents knew the temperature of the running water from the tap. Most of all parents - 86.4% did not leave the child on the furniture above his height, 88.8% allowed the child to eat small pieces of food (walnuts, seeds etc.) that could cause a choking hazard, 82.3% did not leave a child in a car and 74.3% in the bathroom without supervision even for a shot time. A safe environment for a child at home was ensured by 70.5% and partially ensured by 29.5% of all parents. The majority - 76.4% of parents have always had enough money to ensure a safe child's environment at home. The product of child safety according to the European safety standards was selected by 27.1% of all respondents whose financial situation is good or very good. Conclusions. The main cause of trauma in children aged 2-5 years were the fallings. The most injuries were surface injuries, bone fractures and burns. Most of the parents stated, that they used practical preventive measures to protect children from falling, burning, choking / suffocating, drawing, vehicles damages and other environmental hazards. The parents of both groups did not differ in their use of preventive measures. Parents who have higher education, live in a couple, have higher work income, aged 25-34, often said that they have sufficient money to ensure a safe environment for the child. They rarely searched for product safety at a price, more often took into account European safety standards and felt that the availability of safety equipment was sufficient