ABSTRACT

Dog bites are a serious public health concern internationally and children are often at particular risk of them. Because bites to children often occur during apparently benign interactions with a parent present, the need for dog-bite prevention approaches to address adults’ awareness of, and supervision of, child–dog interactions has been highlighted. The aim of this study was to evaluate a hazard perception test of potential dog-bite hazards within a home setting. Six hazards were incorporated in a 2-minute 41-second video, which was embedded into a web-based interface that enabled respondents to identify hazards by clicking the mouse button or tapping the screen of a tablet computer as the video played. The 268 volunteer respondents also completed a short questionnaire. These respondents were predominantly female and appeared more likely to have undertaken higher education and have greater experience with dogs than the general population. Almost one-third (31.8%) of respondents identified all six hazards, and a further quarter (24.5%) missed only one; a quarter (25.2%) identified 3 or fewer; and 43.8% identified 4 or fewer hazards. No one scored zero, and 5.5% and 6.9% identified 1 and 2 hazards, respectively. A range of factors was associated with the identification of specific hazards. Participants with professional or long-term experience with dogs and those with higher educational attainment were more likely to detect some hazards. Older respondents were less likely to identify several of the hazards, and those living with children were less likely to identify cuddling a dog as a hazard. We find that hazard perception testing could be a useful tool for the assessment of knowledge regarding dog-bite risk situations and potentially an educational tool for increasing knowledge and changing practices around dogs.

摘要

狗咬伤在国际上是一个严重的公共卫生问题，儿童往往特别容易受到狗咬伤。由于在与父母在场的明显良性互动中经常发生对儿童的咬伤，因此需要采取预防狗咬伤的方法来解决成人对儿童-狗互动的认识和监督问题。本研究的目的是评估对家庭环境中潜在狗咬危害的危害感知测试。2 分 41 秒的视频中包含六种危害，该视频嵌入到基于网络的界面中，使受访者能够在视频播放时通过单击鼠标按钮或点击平板电脑屏幕来识别危害。268 名志愿受访者还完成了一份简短的问卷。这些受访者主要是女性，与一般人群相比，他们似乎更有可能接受过高等教育，并且对狗有更多的经验。近三分之一 (31.8%) 的受访者指出了所有六种危害，另有四分之一 (24.5%) 仅遗漏了一种；四分之一 (25.2%) 确定了 3 个或更少；43.8% 发现了 4 个或更少的危害。没有人得分为零，5.5% 和 6.9% 分别确定了 1 和 2 种危害。一系列因素与特定危害的识别有关。具有专业或长期养狗经验的参与者以及受教育程度较高的参与者更有可能发现一些危害。年龄较大的受访者不太可能识别出其中的几种危害，而那些与孩子一起生活的人不太可能将拥抱狗视为一种危害。