Evaluation of an infant car seat program in a low-income community
Y. Robitaille, J. Legault, H. Abbey and I. B. Pless
Department of Community Health, Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
This study was designed to assess the influence of an infant car seat loan
program on car seat utilization in a low-income community. An adjacent
community, with no car seat program, was chosen for comparison. Systematic
observations were made in the two neighborhoods, and this information was
supplemented by telephone interviews. Greater use of infant seats was
observed in the intervention community (41%) than in the control community
(27%) for infants younger than 6 months old. The rate of observed
utilization of infants between 7 and 18 months of age increased to 50% on
average, but no significant differences were noted between the two
communities. These findings suggest that a community-based loan program can
produce short-term increases in car seat use rates for infants, even in a
low-income community. A strategy to facilitate continued accessibility to
such restraints is needed, however, to maintain these improvements.
