Search

Background: A video that simulates the anatomical mechanism of shaking the infant head, which may have a stronger impact on the viewer, and a tool to prevent self-reported smothering in response to crying, has never been investigated., Objective: To investigate whether watching an educational video at home visit at 2 months postpartum on infant crying and the dangers of shaking and smothering reduces self-reported shaking and smothering behaviors at 4 months postpartum., Method: In a quasi-experimental study in A city in Japan, the video intervention was implemented at home visits by a midwife, public health nurse or trained volunteers when babies were 2 months old. At the 4-month health checkup, participants received a questionnaire about the video, self-reported shaking and smothering behaviors and other covariates. The impacts of watching the video and self-reported shaking or smothering were analyzed using multiple logistic regression., Results: In total, 5961 caregivers provided valid response for this study (valid response rate: 73.8 %). In the adjusted model, those who watched the video were 74 % less likely to shake their infants (odds ratio (OR): 0.36, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.21-0.64), 43 % were less likely to smother their infants (OR: 0.57, 95 % CI: 0.37-0.89), 52 % were less likely to shake or smother (OR: 0.48, 95 % CI: 0.33-0.69) their infants., Conclusion: The educational video on infant crying and the dangers of shaking and smothering, with anatomical mechanism of shaking, may halve the risk of self-reported shaking and smothering at 4 months of age., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to investigate the penetration rate of child protection teams (CPTs) in medical institutions and associations between CPT functions and hospital services. We collected data in October of 2015 from 377 hospitals in Japan offering pediatric organ transplantation. The questionnaire included questions regarding the existence of a CPT, the number of child maltreatment cases discussed and reported per year, CPT functions including 21 items about staffing, manuals, meeting, prevention, education, and collaboration, and the services provided by the hospital. Of the 377 institutions, 122 (32.4%) answered the survey. There were significant associations between CPT functions and the number of pediatric beds (r = .27), number of pediatricians (r = .27), number of outpatients (r = .39), number of emergency outpatients (r = .28), and emergency medical care (p = .009). In a multiple regression analysis, CPT functions were significantly associated with the number of CPT members, pediatric outpatient numbers, and pediatric emergency outpatient numbers. Japan has no CPT guidelines that outline what CPTs should offer in terms of structure, staffing, functions, and systems. Hospitals with many pediatric and emergency outpatients are expected to play major roles in providing services such as specialty care, intensive care, and education. They are also expected to play a role in detecting and managing child maltreatment, and have, by their own initiative, improved their capacities to achieve these goals., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Infant crying is particularly frustrating to caregivers in the first few months of life and the most common trigger for shaking and abuse. The effectiveness of the Period of PURPLE Crying prevention materials (DVD and booklet) designed to increase knowledge and change behaviors related to crying and the dangers of shaking was reported in North America. The aim of this study was to replicate the effectiveness of the PURPLE materials with mothers of newborns in Japan., Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 201 parents received either PURPLE materials or analogous control materials on infant safety via mail within 2 weeks of birth. At 6 weeks, mothers completed a 4-day behavioral diary. At 2 months, participants completed a predefined 20-min structured telephone survey by an independent firm to assess knowledge and behavior., Results: Scores on crying knowledge scales (out of 100) were significantly higher in the intervention than control groups (56.1 vs. 53.1; difference=3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0-4.9, p<0.005). Percentage of sharing of advice to walk away if frustrated by crying was significantly higher in the intervention than control groups (22.4% vs. 4.1%; difference=18%, 95% CI: 7.4-29.1). Walking away during unsoothable crying was significantly higher in the intervention group than controls (0.085 vs. 0.017 events per day, rate ratio=4.8, 95% CI: 1.1-21.2) by diary. Self-talk behavior scale (out of 100) tended to significance in the intervention group (16.6 vs. 8.9, difference=7.7, 95% CI: -1.0 to 16.4, p<0.1)., Conclusions: Crying knowledge, sharing of walk away information with others and walk away behavior when crying was unsoothable were higher for those who received intervention than control materials. The Period of PURPLE Crying materials may be useful in Japan as well as in North America for informing caregivers about the properties of infant crying and changing some behaviors related to infant crying and shaking. (UMIN Clinical Trials Registry register no. UMIN000001711.)., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)