Abstract
Introduction It is believed that the prevention of head trauma (TBI) can be achieved with campaigns
to raise awareness about safety measures.
Methods Longitudinal, observational and analytical cohort study. Standardized questionnaires
were administered to students from 4th to 6th grade elementary school, before and
immediately after the intervention. Items on habits//exposure to TCEs were analyzed
categorically as theoretical knowledge were evaluated semi-continuously. A randomly
selected subgroup was subjected to the same questionnaires past 9 months of educational
lectures.
Results A total of 117 students (55 girls) were interviewed initially (4th [n ¼ 14/117], 5th [n ¼ 54/117] and 6th [n ¼ 49/117] series, average age of 9.8, 10, 7 and 11.8 years). Of these, 22 students
were submitted to the late posttest (7th grade, 12.7 years on average). Among the
participants, 37% (43/116) students had already suffered/knew someone who suffered
TBI, 58% (18/31) were involved in traffic accidents and 42% (13/31) were involved
in accidents with bicycle, skates or skateboard. Among these subjects, 90.3% reported
occasional use or never having used protection during play. A significant discrepancy
was detected between safety habits and theoretical knowledge related to helmet use
and the use of seat belts (effective use versus hits on knowledge of respectively
37% versus 61%, and 70% versus 92%). In the theoretical evaluation, improvement was
observed only with regard to the importance of helmet usage (61% in the pretest, 72%
in the immediate posttest and 95% in the late posttest).
Conclusion The high rate of experience with TBI coupled with the significant discrepancy between
habits and knowledge regarding trauma prevention stress the need for effective measures
leading to their actual implementation. The intervention increased awareness about
the importance of helmet usage, suggesting partial effectivity from a theoretical
standpoint.
Keywords
trauma - accidents - prevention
