Development and Effects of a Mobile Application for Safety Incident Prevention among Hospitalized Korean Children: A pilot Study of Feasibility and Acceptability.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to describe the development, feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a safety incident prevention program using the Safe Kids Hospital (SKH) application (app) among hospitalized Korean children aged 3-6 years.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Through a literature review of studies on the development of mobile apps for child safety education, reference to educational apps on YouTube, and discussions among the research team, the SKH, a 2D game-based learning app, was developed. The SKH makes use of hospital pictures from the Hospital Safe Scale-Kids (HSS-Kids) test, a structured pictorial questionnaire that measures hospitalized children's safety awareness. This study was a pilot test of the SKH app in an urban Korean medical center. A one-group pre-posttest design was used to evaluate the effect of the SKH app among 30 child-caregiver (parent or grandparent) pairs using the HSS-Kids. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore participants' experiences related to using the app. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed with t-test and content analysis, respectively.

RESULTS

The mean age of the children was 4.5 years. Their level of safety awareness increased after the safety incident prevention program using the SKH app (M = 17.80, 24.53; t = 6.275, p < 0.001). Participants considered the app easy to use and a fun way of learning, expressing overall satisfaction with the education program.

CONCLUSIONS

The effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the SKH app were established.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The SKH app is a promising educational method in pediatric settings.