In this study, before the educational intervention, 32.7% of the subjects reported not storing cleaning products,
medicines and toxic products at the high level of cabinets (P-value=0.007). However, after the intervention, 91.0% of
the subjects claimed to perform these actions; therefore, it was obtained a statistically significant difference.
About the prevention of drowning, after the educational intervention, 92.7% of the subjects revealed to be necessary
to have children under adult supervision in places with water (P-value=0.000).
118 The Open Nursing Journal, 2016, Volume 10 Silva et al.
Regarding the preventing of falls, after the educational intervention, there was a statistically significant difference
(P-value=0.000) since 92.7% of the subjects affirmed that children should not be placed on tables, chairs and other
furniture without adult supervision.
DISCUSSION
After the analysis of the collected data, it was noticed that the subjects did not have sufficient information to ensure
the prevention of accidents in childhood before the educational intervention. By analyzing the mothers’ knowledge
before and after the educational intervention, there is an increase in percentage related to their knowledge compared to
the step before the intervention. Therefore, it reaffirms the importance of regularly implementation of educational health
interventions on this topic in communities.
The importance of accident prevention is required since accidents and violence are the third cause of mortality in the
Brazilian population [9]. Because they are considered major public health problems, accidents in childhood can lead
from temporary disability to death. Accidents have epidemiological causes and determinants that can be prevented and
controlled and are usually the result of a set of factors that make their occurrence predictable [16].
According to the Brazilian National Policy for Reduction of Morbidity and Mortality of Accidents and Violence,
accident is any unintentional and avoidable event, capable of causing physical and/or emotional injuries at home or in
other social settings, such as traffic, work, school, sport and leisure [7].
Home environment is the primary location of accidents in childhood [17]. Therefore, the prevention of accidents at
home must be shared to parents/guardians of the children by health professionals because this interaction in health care
is considered a major factor on the risk prevention.
Studies have reaffirmed to be vital that families, especially mothers, are knowledgeable about the inherent risks of
home environment in order to expand learning and risk identification regarding accident prevention in childhood, since
ignorance predispose them to the occurrence of injuries [18, 19].
It is emphasized that the importance of providing subsidies to children's caregivers aims to reduce the incidence of
injuries and deaths from this preventable causes through early guidance.
Traditionally, early guidance focuses on providing families information about normal growth and development in
childhood, including specific information about security at home. Because of children's maturation skills, home safety
measures need to be performed early in order to minimize risks [20].
For the emancipation and empowerment of subjects, health education is an essential tool for a suitable health care
delivery because nurses, besides being caregivers, are educators [16]. Consequently, the teaching-learning process must
be constant through actions and programs that collaborate to the acquisition of solid knowledge on principles and
recommendations for the prevention of accidents in childhood.
The educational intervention performed in this study allowed the subjects to build a new perspective to the
prevention of accidents at home in a way that they were motivated to apply the gained knowledge in childcare.
A study about the effectiveness of a multimedia intervention on the knowledge and actions of parents regarding
children safety revealed significant increase of knowledge from the use of the educational intervention [21].
Parents' belief that accidents occur by chance is a major obstacle to their prevention and control, which confirms the
importance of educational interventions. A study investigated the occurrence of accidents in a rural child population of
Iran concluded that health professionals can play an important role in monitoring and identification of ways to prevent
accidents related to the context in which children live [22].
Another research showed that nurses could provide to children's caregivers a consistent basis for risk prevention
based on scientific evidence by sharing relevant knowledge [23].
Conducting studies that reinforces the concepts of scientific findings on the promotion of safety and accident
prevention among children is fundamental to implement and strengthen educational programs on this field [24].
Among childhood accidents, fa