Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.
Inj Prev. 2013 Apr;19(2):130-3. doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2012-040581. Epub 2012 Dec 5.
Proper classification of child occupant restraint use is dependent on the age of the child occupant. Observations of vehicle restraint use involve estimating child age. If estimates of age are incorrect, then a potential for misclassification of restraint use exists.
To compare estimated and confirmed child occupant age and calculate the impact of errors in age estimates on the proportion of children classified as properly restrained.
Observations of restraint use were completed for occupants 0-8 years of age at two health clinics. After initial observation, we approached the driver to confirm the child's age. Each child's restraint use was classified as either compliant or not compliant with state law, based on type of restraint used and based on the child's estimated and confirmed ages.
Classification of age categories for child occupants (n=218) was correct in 86.3% of observations. For 48.6%, the confirmed and estimated age matched exactly, and for 98.1%, age matched within ±1 year. Overall, compliant restraint use based on estimated age was 39.4%, and based on confirmed age was 38.5%. In paired comparisons, restraint use based on estimated age versus confirmed age was concordant for more than 95% of children.
The level of accuracy for age estimates was sufficient for making estimates of compliant restraint use. Errors in estimated age resulted in a less than 1 percentage point difference in overall proper restraint use calculations. The results suggest that such observations can be a reliable measure of proper child occupant restraint use.
正确分类儿童乘客约束装置的使用情况取决于儿童乘客的年龄。对车辆约束装置使用情况的观察涉及到对儿童年龄的估计。如果年龄估计不准确，那么就存在约束装置使用情况分类错误的潜在风险。
比较估计的和确认的儿童乘客年龄，并计算年龄估计错误对正确分类的约束装置使用比例的影响。
在两个健康诊所对 0-8 岁的乘客进行了约束装置使用情况的观察。初始观察后，我们与驾驶员联系以确认孩子的年龄。根据所使用的约束装置的类型以及孩子的估计和确认年龄，将每个孩子的约束装置使用情况分类为符合或不符合州法律。
对儿童乘客（n=218）的年龄类别分类在 86.3%的观察中是正确的。在 48.6%的情况下，确认和估计的年龄完全匹配，在 98.1%的情况下，年龄匹配在±1 岁以内。总体而言，根据估计年龄，合规约束装置的使用比例为 39.4%，而根据确认年龄则为 38.5%。在配对比较中，根据估计年龄与确认年龄的约束装置使用情况在 95%以上的儿童中是一致的。
年龄估计的准确性足以用于估计合规约束装置的使用情况。估计年龄的误差导致整体正确约束装置使用计算的差异不到 1 个百分点。结果表明，这种观察可以成为衡量儿童乘客约束装置正确使用的可靠指标。
