Evaluating an in-school injury prevention programme's effect on children's helmet wearing habits.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Bikes, Blades and Boards (BB&B) programme. It was hypothesized that children who participated in the BB&B programme would demonstrate greater knowledge of how to wear their helmets safely than a control group who did not participate in the programme and retain their skills when assessed 1 year later.


METHODS
Single blind cluster randomized design.


METHODS
Twelve classes of grade 2 students (n = 162) participated; six classes were assigned to an experimental or control group. A blinded research assistant, taking 3-5 minutes per child, completed the Helmet Checklist with each group on two occasions and scores of the experimental group (post-BB&B programme) were compared to the control group. The experimental group was reassessed using the Helmet Checklist, 1 year later.


METHODS
The BB&B programme consisted of a presentation, bicycle helmet checklist, demonstration and individual practice and feedback.


RESULTS
Children in the experimental group showed a better knowledge of how to wear their helmets safely compared to the control group (F = 51.84, CI = 9.11-9.71) and retained this knowledge 1 year after participating in the BB&B programme.


CONCLUSIONS
The BB&B programme is effective in teaching grade 2 children how to wear their helmets correctly, which is knowledge they retain for at least 1 year.
Blake
Gary
G
Acquired Brain Injury Program, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. blakeg@hhsc.ca
Velikonja
Diana
D
Pepper
Veronica
V
Jilderda
Irene
I
Georgiou
Georgia
G
D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006184:Habits; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child