Background: Poison control centers (PCCs) reduce health care costs for childhood poisonings by providing telephone advice for home management of most cases. Past research suggests that PCCs are underutilized by low-income minority and Spanish-speaking parents because of lack of knowledge and misconceptions about the PCC. A videotape intervention was designed to address these barriers to PCC use.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a videotape intervention (videotape, PCC pamphlet, and PCC stickers) in improving knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and behavioral intention regarding use of the PCC in a low-income and predominantly Spanish-speaking population in Northern California.
Methods: Two hundred eighty-nine parents of children <6 years of age, attending educational classes at 2 Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) clinics participated in a randomized, controlled trial. WIC classes were randomized to receive the video intervention (video group) or to attend the regularly scheduled WIC class (control group). Participants completed a baseline questionnaire and 2 to 4 weeks later, a follow-up telephone interview. Changes from baseline to posttest were compared in the treatment and control groups using analysis of variance.
Results: Compared with the control group, the video group showed an increase in knowledge about the PCC's function, its hours of operation, and staff qualifications; was more likely to feel confident in speaking with and carrying out recommendations made by the PCC; was less likely to believe the PCC would report a mother for neglect; was more likely to have the correct PCC phone number posted in their homes; and when presented with several hypothetical emergency scenarios, was more likely to correctly answer that calling the PCC was the best action to take in a poisoning situation.
Conclusions: This videotape intervention was highly effective in changing knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and behavioral intentions concerning the PCC within this population. As a result, use of this video may help increase use of the PCC by low-income and Spanish-speaking families.