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Preventing childhood scalds within the home: overview of systematic reviews and a systematic review of primary studies

Zou, Kun; Wynn, Persephone M.; Miller, Philip; Hindmarch, Paul; Majsak-Newman, Gosia; Young, Ben; Hayes, Mike; Kendrick, Denise

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Authors

Kun Zou

Persephone M. Wynn

Philip Miller

Paul Hindmarch

Gosia Majsak-Newman

Ben Young

Mike Hayes

DENISE KENDRICK DENISE.KENDRICK@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Professor of Primary Care Research



Abstract

Objective: To synthesise and evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions to prevent scalds in children.
Methods: An overview of systematic reviews (SR) and a SR of primary studies were performed evaluating interventions to prevent scalds in children. A comprehensive literature search was conducted covering various resources up to October 2012. Experimental and controlled observational studies reporting scald injuries, safety practices and safety equipment use were included.
Results: Fourteen systematic reviews and 39 primary studies were included. There is little evidence that interventions are effective in reducing the incidence of scalds in children. More evidence was found that inventions are effective in promoting safe hot tap water temperature, especially when home safety education, home safety checks and discounted or free safety equipment including thermometers and thermostatic mixing valves were provided. No consistent evidence was found for the effectiveness of interventions on the safe handling of hot food or drinks nor improving kitchen safety practices.
Conclusion: Education, home safety checks along with thermometers or thermostatic mixing valves should be promoted to reduce tap water scalds. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on scald injuries and to disentangle the effects of multifaceted interventions on scald injuries and safety practices.

Citation

Zou, K., Wynn, P. M., Miller, P., Hindmarch, P., Majsak-Newman, G., Young, B., …Kendrick, D. (2015). Preventing childhood scalds within the home: overview of systematic reviews and a systematic review of primary studies. Burns, 41(5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2014.11.002

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 1, 2015
Deposit Date Oct 26, 2015
Publicly Available Date Oct 26, 2015
Journal Burns
Print ISSN 0305-4179
Electronic ISSN 1879-1409
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 41
Issue 5
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2014.11.002
Keywords Scald, Prevention, Home, Children, Systematic Review
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/746251
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305417914003714
Related Public URLs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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