Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of preventable death among U.S. children. The incidence of nonfatal injuries accounts for a high rate of child morbidity. Increasing the extent and quality of injury prevention guidance to parents in pediatric primary care is a promising strategy to obtain the health and economic benefits of reducing preventable injuries. Although pediatricians can be effective motivators of parents for injury prevention, the rates of anticipatory guidance in pediatric practice (recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for delivery at routine health visits) are low. The purpose of this research is to examine the extent, content, and dynamics of injury prevention guidance (IPG) communications between pediatricians and caretakers as a two-way process during routine child health visits. Audio-taped communications of a sample of pediatrician-caretaker data sets (the longitudinal series yielding 36 pediatrician-caretaker pairs and 120 visits) are transcribed and analyzed by quantitative and qualitative methods. The study will provide information for the development and design of future clinically-based interventions to enhance the delivery of injury prevention guidance in primary pediatric care and decrease childhood injuries. The interventions will be applicable to research on the feasibility of injury prevention interventions to primary care by the Institute.
