A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRISH AND AMERICAN PARENTS' AWARENESS OF SCHOOLBAG CARRIAGE GUIDELINES

Background. Given the global nature of schoolbag carriage there has been extensive research on schoolbag use with resultant guidance on many aspects of carrying a schoolbag. However, there is limited evidence of knowledge... [ view full abstract ]

Background. Given the global nature of schoolbag carriage there has been extensive research on schoolbag use with resultant guidance on many aspects of carrying a schoolbag. However, there is limited evidence of knowledge translation or parents’ awareness of schoolbag carriage (Dianat and Karimi 2014; Patil et al. 2016; Dockrell et al. 2016). This study investigated (i) parental awareness of guidelines related to schoolbag carriage, and (ii) their preferred platforms for receiving information about schoolbag use.

Method. A cross-sectional survey using an anonymous 30-item questionnaire and purposive sampling was used. Having obtained permission from the school principals, questionnaires were distributed to parents of primary school children. Return of completed questionnaires was considered as consent. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used and associations were tested using Chi-square analysis in SPSS version 23.

Results. A total of 700 parents participated in the study (n=444 [Ire]; n=256 [US]). Generally, parents had satisfactory awareness of schoolbag type, features and carriage. The majority of children owned a backpack (89.9% [Ire] vs 93.7% [US]). However, a smaller number of parents considered this to be the most suitable bag for their child (69.6% [Ire] vs 88.2% [US], p<0.001). More Irish parents (29.2%) favoured a wheeled schoolbag compared to US parents (6.2%) (p<0.001). Awareness of guideline schoolbag weight limits was low 17.8% [Ire] vs 52.3% [US], and significantly different between Irish and US parents (p<0.001). The majority of parents wanted more information about schoolbags (70.8% [Ire] vs 55.7% [US]). The preferred platforms for receiving information were a handout (78.1% [Ire] vs 71.6% [US]) and online (44.6% [Ire] vs 35.5% [US]).   

Conclusion. Overall, parents had good awareness of schoolbag carriage guidelines. Few parents had ever received information from professional organisations regarding safe schoolbag carriage, and the demand for further information was high. The preferred platform for knowledge translation was a handout. Parents are the best advocates for safety promotion, and represent the group most likely to improve schoolbag carriage among their children. Parental awareness could be enhanced through continued education from health care professionals with emphasis on broad ergonomic schoolbag-related factors and less importance on schoolbag weight alone.

References

Dianat I, Karimi M. (2014) Association of parental awareness of using schoolbags with musculoskeletal symptoms and carrying habits of schoolchildren. The Journal of School Nursing, 30: 368-377.

Dockrell S, Simms C, Blake C. (2016) Guidelines on schoolbag use: Messaging to inform the stakeholders. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, 54: 489-492.

Patil M, Sumana S, Shagale N. (2016) Awareness of parents about characteristics and carrying habits of backpacks and its comparison with behavioural practices of their children. International Journal of Pediatric Research, 3: 173-179.

Ethics Approval

The study was approved by the School of Medicine Research Ethics Committee, Trinity College Dublin and the Boston University Institutional Review Board.