Understanding Parental Perceptions of Content-Specific Barriers to Preventing Unintentional Injuries in the Home

Abstract

Background: Preventable injuries are the leading cause of death in children around the world, including in Japan. As children under the age of 5 years spend most of their time at home, home injury prevention is critical for child safety. The purpose of this study was to identify specific, focused, and precise barriers against injury prevention practice. Methods: We conducted an online survey to examine the barriers faced by parents when taking actions to prevent home injuries. Results: The results revealed common reasons why parents do not or cannot take a recommended action across injury types, and that the magnitude of importance for a specific barrier depends on the type of injury. Conclusions: Identifying content-specific barriers could help researchers and educators understand parents’ needs, discuss what barriers are more important than others by injury type, and develop effective strategies based on the 3Es of injury prevention (enforcement, engineering, and education).