Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial
Background - Although working smoke alarms halve deaths in residential fires, many households do not keep alarms operational. We tested whether theory-based education increases alarm operability. Methods - Randomised multiarm trial, with a single arm randomly selected for use each day, in low-income...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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BMJ Publishing
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39350 |
| _version_ | 1848755568255172608 |
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| author | Miller, Ted Bergen, G. Ballasteros, M. Battacharya, S. Gielen, A. Sheppard, M. |
| author_facet | Miller, Ted Bergen, G. Ballasteros, M. Battacharya, S. Gielen, A. Sheppard, M. |
| author_sort | Miller, Ted |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background - Although working smoke alarms halve deaths in residential fires, many households do not keep alarms operational. We tested whether theory-based education increases alarm operability. Methods - Randomised multiarm trial, with a single arm randomly selected for use each day, in low-income neighbourhoods in Maryland, USA. Intervention arms: (1) Full Education combining a health belief module with a social-cognitive theory module that provided hands-on practice installing alarm batteries and using the alarm's hush button; (2) Hands-on Practice social-cognitive module supplemented by typical fire department education; (3) Current Norm receiving typical fire department education only. Four hundred and thirty-six homes recruited through churches or by knocking on doors in 2005–2008. Follow-up visits checked alarm operability in 370 homes (85%) 1–3.5 years after installation. Main outcome measures: number of homes with working alarms defined as alarms with working batteries or hard-wired and number of working alarms per home. Regressions controlled for alarm status preintervention; demographics and beliefs about fire risks and alarm effectiveness. Results - Homes in the Full Education and Practice arms were more likely to have a functioning smoke alarm at follow-up (OR=2.77, 95% CI 1.09 to 7.03) and had an average of 0.32 more working alarms per home (95% CI 0.09 to 0.56). Working alarms per home rose 16%. Full Education and Practice had similar effectiveness (p=0.97 on both outcome measures). Conclusions - Without exceeding typical fire department installation time, installers can achieve greater smoke alarm operability. Hands-on practice is key. Two years after installation, for every three homes that received hands-on practice, one had an additional working alarm. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:58:22Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-39350 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:58:22Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-393502018-04-09T05:00:41Z Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial Miller, Ted Bergen, G. Ballasteros, M. Battacharya, S. Gielen, A. Sheppard, M. smoke alarms theory-based education demographics fire risks Background - Although working smoke alarms halve deaths in residential fires, many households do not keep alarms operational. We tested whether theory-based education increases alarm operability. Methods - Randomised multiarm trial, with a single arm randomly selected for use each day, in low-income neighbourhoods in Maryland, USA. Intervention arms: (1) Full Education combining a health belief module with a social-cognitive theory module that provided hands-on practice installing alarm batteries and using the alarm's hush button; (2) Hands-on Practice social-cognitive module supplemented by typical fire department education; (3) Current Norm receiving typical fire department education only. Four hundred and thirty-six homes recruited through churches or by knocking on doors in 2005–2008. Follow-up visits checked alarm operability in 370 homes (85%) 1–3.5 years after installation. Main outcome measures: number of homes with working alarms defined as alarms with working batteries or hard-wired and number of working alarms per home. Regressions controlled for alarm status preintervention; demographics and beliefs about fire risks and alarm effectiveness. Results - Homes in the Full Education and Practice arms were more likely to have a functioning smoke alarm at follow-up (OR=2.77, 95% CI 1.09 to 7.03) and had an average of 0.32 more working alarms per home (95% CI 0.09 to 0.56). Working alarms per home rose 16%. Full Education and Practice had similar effectiveness (p=0.97 on both outcome measures). Conclusions - Without exceeding typical fire department installation time, installers can achieve greater smoke alarm operability. Hands-on practice is key. Two years after installation, for every three homes that received hands-on practice, one had an additional working alarm. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39350 10.1136/jech-2014-204182 BMJ Publishing unknown |
| spellingShingle | smoke alarms theory-based education demographics fire risks Miller, Ted Bergen, G. Ballasteros, M. Battacharya, S. Gielen, A. Sheppard, M. Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title | Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title_full | Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title_fullStr | Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title_short | Increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| title_sort | increasing smoke alarm operability through theory-based health education: a randomised trial |
| topic | smoke alarms theory-based education demographics fire risks |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39350 |