Document Detail


Trends in booster seat use among young children in crashes.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  11731636     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
INTRODUCTION: Booster seat use in the United States is extremely low among 4- to 8-year-old children, the group targeted for their use. However, more recent attention has been paid to the role of booster seats for children who have outgrown their forward-facing child safety seat. In particular, several states are currently considering upgrades to their child restraint laws to include the use of booster seats for children over 4 years of age. OBJECTIVE: To examine recent trends in booster seat use among children involved in automobile crashes in 3 large regions of the United States. DESIGN: This study was performed as part of the Partners for Child Passenger Safety project, an ongoing, child-specific crash surveillance system that links insurance claims data to telephone survey and crash investigation data. All crashes occurring between December 1, 1998, and November 30, 2000, involving a child occupant between 2 to 8 years of age riding in a model year 1990 or newer vehicle reported to State Farm Insurance Companies from 15 states and Washington, DC, were eligible for this study. A probability sample of eligible crashes was selected for a telephone survey with the driver of the vehicle using a previously validated instrument. The study sample was weighted according to each subject's probability of selection, with analyses conducted on the weighted sample. RESULTS: The weighted study sample consisted of 53 834 children between 2 to 8 years old, 11.5% of whom were using a booster seat at the time of the crash. Booster seat use peaked at age 3 and dropped dramatically after age 4. Over the period of study, booster seat use among 4- to 8-year-olds increased from 4% to 13%. Among 4-year-olds specifically, booster use increased from 14% to 34%. Among children using booster seats, approximately half used shield boosters and half used belt-positioning boosters. CONCLUSIONS: Although overall booster seat use among the targeted population of 4- to 8-year-old children remains low, significant increases have been noted among specific age groups of children over the past 2 years. These data may be useful to pediatricians, legislators, and educators in efforts to target interventions designed to increase appropriate booster seat use in these children.
Authors:
D R Durbin; M J Kallan; F K Winston
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Pediatrics     Volume:  108     ISSN:  1098-4275     ISO Abbreviation:  Pediatrics     Publication Date:  2001 Dec 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2001-12-03     Completed Date:  2002-01-30     Revised Date:  2006-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0376422     Medline TA:  Pediatrics     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  E109     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ddurbin@cceb.med.upenn.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Accidents, Traffic / statistics & numerical data*
Automobiles / statistics & numerical data*
Child
Child, Preschool
Humans
Infant Equipment / utilization*
Population Surveillance
Protective Devices
Safety / statistics & numerical data
Seat Belts
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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