Comparison of child safety seat misuse in families receiving instruction prior to use and families who received no instruction prior to use.

This poster presents a study that was undertaken in the United States to determine if low income families who receive personal instruction on using their child's safety seat when they receive the seat have less misuse upon recheck than families with no initial personal child safety seat instruction. Misuse frequencies and misuse differences by median family income also were examined. Data were collected by parent educators, trained in child passenger safety. Data were collected from 17 school districts in the Greater Kansas City area and from rural Northeast Kansas from June 1994 through May 1996. Parent educators reviewed 334 child safety seats, using a 42 item Car Seat Checklist to evaluate seat use. The study supports the finding that parents of all income levels have a great deal of difficulty using their child's safety seat correctly. However, personal instruction can reduce short-term misuse. Additional fool-proof features in car seat design, instructions with user friendly formats and simple instructions, and introduction of uniform anchorage systems in vehicles will make seats easier to use correctly. Pediatricians, nurses, early childhood educators and safety professionals should increase efforts to educate parents on correct car seat use. (A)