The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Columbus, OH, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
World J Pediatr. 2017 Dec;13(6):593-598. doi: 10.1007/s12519-017-0057-y. Epub 2017 Jul 27.
Few published studies have examined child passenger safety practices across countries. This study compared the prevalence and associated factors of child passenger restraint use among children, aged 0 to 17 in the state of Iowa in the United States, and the city of Shantou in China.
Child restraint use observations were conducted in Iowa and in Shantou in 2012, respectively, among child passengers. Observations in Iowa were conducted at randomly selected gas stations, while in Shantou observations were completed at randomly selected schools or medical clinics. Research observers approached the driver, observed restraint use, and collected brief survey data.
A total of 3049 children from Iowa and 3333 children aged 0 to 17 years from Shantou were observed. For children aged 0 to 3 years, only 0.1% were compliantly restrained in Shantou as compared to 95.9% in Iowa. The proportion of children who were compliantly restrained in Shantou increased with age, but generally decreased with age in Iowa. In Shantou, 36.0% of children aged 0 to 3 were sitting in the front seat as compared to only 1.7% of children of the same age in Iowa. Driver seat belt use was significantly associated with child restraint in both Iowa and Shantou; the association was stronger in Iowa than Shantou for all age groups.
A significantly higher prevalence of children who were not appropriately restrained was observed in Shantou than in Iowa. Our findings support the need of mandatory child safety restraint use legislation in China.
鲜有研究调查过不同国家的儿童乘客安全措施。本研究比较了美国爱荷华州和中国汕头市 0 至 17 岁儿童乘客使用儿童约束装置的流行率及相关因素。
2012 年，分别在爱荷华州和汕头市对儿童乘客进行了儿童约束装置使用观察。在爱荷华州，观察是在随机选择的加油站进行的，而在汕头市，观察是在随机选择的学校或诊所完成的。研究观察人员走近驾驶员，观察约束装置的使用情况，并收集简短的调查数据。
共观察了来自爱荷华州的 3049 名儿童和来自汕头市的 3333 名 0 至 17 岁的儿童。0 至 3 岁的儿童中，汕头市只有 0.1%的儿童合规使用约束装置，而爱荷华州则有 95.9%。随着年龄的增长，汕头市合规使用约束装置的儿童比例增加，但在爱荷华州则普遍下降。汕头市 0 至 3 岁的儿童中有 36.0%坐在前排，而爱荷华州同年龄段的儿童中只有 1.7%坐在前排。在爱荷华州和汕头市，驾驶员系安全带与儿童约束装置的使用均显著相关；对于所有年龄段的儿童，这种关联在爱荷华州比在汕头市更强。
与爱荷华州相比，汕头市未正确使用约束装置的儿童比例明显更高。我们的研究结果支持中国制定强制性儿童安全约束装置使用法规的必要性。
