JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Falls are the most common hospitalised injury mechanism of children under 1 year, and currently, there are no targeted prevention interventions. Prevention of falls in children of this age requires changes in behaviour of their caregivers, and theoretically informed digital behaviour change interventions (DBCI) may provide a unique mechanism for achieving effective intervention. However, user acceptance and the ability of DBCI to affect the required changes in behaviour are critical to their likely success.

Objective:

The objective of the study was to evaluate a behaviour theory-informed digital intervention developed following a user-centred approach for user experience, the potential for this intervention to prevent infant falls, and its impact on behavioural drivers underpinning fall risk in young children.

Methods:

Parents of infants were recruited aged <1 year were recruited and asked to use the intervention for 3 months. A pre-post longitudinal design was followed to examine the change in the potential to reduce the risk of falls after 3-month exposure to the intervention. Post-intervention data on behavioural drivers for fall prevention, user acceptability and engagement with the app, were also collected. Interviews were conducted to explore user experience and to identify any areas for further improvement of the intervention.

Results:

A total of 62 parents participated in the study. A statistically significant effect on the potential to reduce falls was observed post-intervention. The effect was higher for new parents. Parents agreed the intervention targeted most of the target behaviour drivers. Behaviour drivers and intervention impact on potential for fall prevention had a positive correlation. The intervention demonstrated good levels of acceptability. Feedback from participants was mostly positive, and the primary area identified for further improvement was widening the scope of the intervention.

Conclusions:

This study demonstrated the promise of a newly developed digital intervention on reducing the risk of infant falls, particularly among new parents. It also showed a positive influence of the DBCI on drivers of parental behaviours important for fall reduction among infants. Acceptability of the app was high, and important insights were gained from users about how to further improve the app.