Child supervision practices for drowning prevention in rural Bangladesh: a pilot study of supervision tools.
BACKGROUND
Injuries are an increasing child health concern and have become a leading cause of child mortality in the 1-4 years age group in many developing countries, including Bangladesh.


METHODS
Household observations during 9 months of a community-based pilot of two supervision tools-a door barrier and a playpen-designed to assess their community acceptability in rural Bangladesh are reported in this article.


RESULTS
Statistical analysis of 2694 observations revealed that children were directly supervised or protected by a preventive tool in 96% of visits. Households with a supervision tool had a significantly lower proportion of observations with the child unsupervised and unprotected than households without a tool. Families that received a playpen had 6.89 times the odds of using it at the time of the visit than families that received a door barrier.


CONCLUSIONS
Interventions such as the playpen, when introduced to households through community-based programs, are accepted by parents. Field trials are urgently needed to establish the effectiveness of barrier-based interventions at reducing under-five drowning mortality rates in low-income countries like Bangladesh.
Callaghan
J A
JA
International Injury Research Unit, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Hyder
A A
AA
Khan
R
R
Blum
L S
LS
Arifeen
S
S
Baqui
A H
AH
D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh; D002648:Child; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D004332:Drowning / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D015370:Infant Equipment; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011482:Protective Devices; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population