Risk factors and parental risk perception of unintentional home injuries of children under 6 years in Germany: A secondary data analysis

Introduction: Unintentional home injuries are a major health risk for children. To develop and implement appropriate interventions, both theoretical guidance and empirical evidence are required. While theoretical models informing injury prevention are available, detailed information on unintentional home injuries of children and parental risk perception is still missing. The objective of this study was to identify relevant determinants of unintentional home injuries of children under 6 years of age and parental risk perception from an empirical perspective. Method: The secondary data analysis is based on data from two nationally representative surveys from Germany conducted in 2014–2017 (n = 4,009) and 2019 (n = 411). Both bivariate analyses and multivariate binary logistic regression models were conducted to determine the associations between various factors with unintentional home injuries and parental risk perception. Results: Key determinants of unintentional home injuries included the age and personality of the child, migrant status, and housing tenure. Parental risk perception was significantly associated with children’s sex. The number of children living in the household and household net income were identified as determinants for both unintentional home injuries and parent’s risk perception. Furthermore, a discrepancy between parent’s risk perception and actual risk factors of unintentional home injuries was found. Conclusions: Findings from this study strengthen the evidence base by demonstrating relevant determinants of unintentional home injuries of children and parent’s risk perception. Since this study provides first evidence of a distorted parental risk perception, future research should focus on parental risk perception to assess it more accurately in interventions to prevent unintentional home injuries of children. Practical Applications: The present findings may inform health practitioners about which points they should address when interacting with parents. For instance, they should focus on raising parent’s awareness of actual risk factors and discuss concrete behavioral or environmental safety precautions.