The Frequency of Home Accidents in 0-6 Years Old Children and the Investigation of the Safety Measures Taken By Mothe

Abstract

Objective: This research was carried out to determine the frequency of home accidents in children aged 0-6 years between March 11, 2020 and May 31, 2022, when the COVID19 pandemic outbreak in our country, and to examine the safety measures taken by mothers for home accidents. Method: The data of the descriptive study were obtained between January and June 2022. The sample of the study consisted of 300 mothers with children aged 0-6 years who applied to the pediatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital in western Turkey and voluntarily accepted to participate in the study. The research data were collected using the “Socio-demographic Information Form” and the “Scale for Mother's Identification of Safety Measures Against House Accidents for Children of 0-6 Years Age Group”. In the analysis of the data, Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests were used as well as descriptive statistics. Results: In our study, the rate of home accidents in children aged 0-6 was found to be 41.3%. It was observed that the age of having a home accident in children was between 37-72 months (47.6%) and the frequency of having a home accident increased as the age increased (p<.05). It was determined that 60.5% of the children who had a home accident were male, and the most common type of home accident was fallingimpact (80.6%). The scale mean score of the employed mothers (166.20±12.65) was lower than the scale mean score of the unemployed (169.81±12.78) and home-working mothers (167.78±19.19), but this was not statistically significant (p>.05). Conclusion: It was seen that the mothers' level of identification safety measures for home accidents was at a moderate level. This indicates that there is still a need to take security measures at home during the ongoing pandemic period. In order to prevent home accidents, it is recommended that all parents, especially mothers, be educated about home accidents and creating a safe home environment.