Evaluation of give kids a boost: A school-based program to increase booster seat use among urban children in economically disadvantaged areas

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a series of 1-year multifaceted school-based programs aimed at increasing booster seat use among urban children 4–7 years of age in economically disadvantaged areas.

Methods: During 4 consecutive school years, 2011–2015, the Give Kids a Boost (GKB) program was implemented in a total of 8 schools with similar demographics in Dallas County. Observational surveys were conducted at project schools before project implementation (P₀), 1–4 weeks after the completion of project implementation (P₁), and 4–5 months later (P₂). Changes in booster seat use for the 3 time periods were compared for the 8 project and 14 comparison schools that received no intervention using a nonrandomized trial process.

The intervention included (1) train-the-trainer sessions with teachers and parents; (2) presentations about booster seat safety; (3) tailored communication to parents; (4) distribution of fact sheets/resources; (5) walk-around education; and (6) booster seat inspections.

The association between the GKB intervention and proper booster seat use was determined initially using univariate analysis. The association was also estimated using a generalized linear mixed model predicting a binomial outcome (booster seat use) for those aged 4 to 7 years, adjusted for child-level variables (age, sex, race/ethnicity) and car-level variables (vehicle type). The model incorporated the effects of clustering by site and by collection date to account for the possibility of repeated sampling.

Results: In the 8 project schools, booster seat use for children 4–7 years of age increased an average of 20.9 percentage points between P₀ and P₁ (P₀ = 4.8%, P₁ = 25.7%; odds ratio [OR] = 6.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5, 8.7; P < .001) and remained at that level in the P₂ time period (P₂ = 25.7%; P < .001, for P₀ vs. P₂) in the univariate analysis. The 14 comparison schools had minimal change in booster seat use. The multivariable model showed that children at the project schools were significantly more likely to be properly restrained in a booster seat after the intervention (OR = 2.7; 95% CI, 2.2, 3.3) compared to the P₀ time period and compared to the comparison schools.

Conclusion: Despite study limitations, the GKB program was positively associated with an increase in proper booster seat use for children 4–7 years of age in school settings among diverse populations in economically disadvantaged areas. These increases persisted into the following school year in a majority of the project schools. The GKB model may be a replicable strategy to increase booster seat use among school-age children in similar urban settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Booster seat
• child occupant restraint
• public health
• injury prevention

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the support of the following people, without whose help the project could not have been done: Carrie Nie, MPH, formerly of the Injury Prevention Center; the leadership, staff, and parent volunteers (Booster Seat Champions) at the Dallas Independent School District and Irving Independent School District project schools, as well as the leadership at the comparison schools who allowed child restraint observations to be conducted at their schools; the police officers with the Irving Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, and the Dallas ISD Police Department, who assisted with educational activities; and the many certified child passenger safety technicians and instructors who volunteered at GKB inspection station events. The GKB project was reviewed and deemed exempt by the by Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for the protection of human participants.

Additional information

Funding

Funded was provided in part from the following grants from the Texas Department of Transportation: 2012-IPCOGD-G-1YG-0094, 2013-IPCOGD-G-1YG-0162 (1), 2014-IPCOGD-G-1YG-0112, and 2015-IPCOGD-G-1YG-0077.