Educating grade school children using a structured bicycle safety program.

Background: Prevention is understudied in trauma care. Furthermore, the effectiveness of prevention outreach programs is not well documented. We attempted to verify that elementary school educational programs effectively create retained knowledge.

Methods: Three hundred fifty-one students (grades 1-3) viewed a bicycle safety videotape and then listened to a structured discussion of bicycle safety rules. Coded pretests were given before and identical posttests were given immediately after the session. Tests were readministered 1 month later to evaluate retained knowledge. Two hundred fifty-one students completed all three tests.

Results: Students showed significant (p < 0.01) improvement in retained knowledge about riding with traffic, wearing a bicycle helmet, warning pedestrians when riding on sidewalks, and stopping before riding into the street.

Conclusion: We conclude that prevention programs are effective and result in retained knowledge. Further analysis is recommended to evaluate retained knowledge at greater intervals after the original education.