202422 Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention education in North Carolina hospitals

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Maryalice Nocera, MSN , Injury Prevention Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Adam J. Zolotor, MD MPH , Department of Family Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Meghan Shanahan, MPH , Gillings School of Global Public Health Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Christopher J. Sellers, MSW MPH , Department of Clinical Care Management, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC
Desmond K. Runyan, MD , Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Background/Purpose: Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a serious form of child abuse and the most frequent cause of death from trauma in children under two. Use of universal primary prevention during the postpartum period is becoming common. This study describes current practices in Shaken Baby Syndrome education and estimates the percentage of parents that may be provided educational materials in North Carolina, a state without a law mandating education.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with Nurse Manager/Charge Nurse in each newborn nursery between August and December, 2007. Frequencies are reported for content and method of delivery. Using hospital birth data, the potential number of parents that could receive SBS prevention education was estimated. Bivariate analyses were used to examine associations between hospital characteristics and education programs.

Results/Outcomes: Sixty percent of hospitals performing 72% of births reported some education of parents about SBS. Hospitals located in more affluent counties (p<0.007), with large volume of deliveries (p<0.04) and residency teaching programs (p<0.01) were more likely to provide SBS education. The most frequently reported educational formats were written materials (65.6%) and bedside teaching (49%). More than half of hospitals surveyed reported using multiple methods (56.4%). Thirty percent of hospitals reported using written materials containing no information on coping with crying.

Conclusion: SBS education in North Carolina varies in content and format. Reasons for variation are not well understood, but may be related to hospital resources (financial, community, organizational). Minimally, 28% of families of infants born in the surveyed hospitals received no SBS information.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention practices at North Carolina birthing hospitals

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a registered nurse with twenty plus years experience in pediatrics. I have been involved with research in traumatic brain injury in young children since 2000 and am currently the project manager and co-investigator for a statewide study to implement a shaken baby prevention program. I directly participated in the design, administration and analysis of this survey.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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