健康教育对轻中度铅中毒儿童干预作用的随机临床对照研究

目的评价健康教育对轻、中度儿童铅中毒的干预效果.方法血铅水平在100 μg/L以上的儿童200名,随机分为2组实验组107名,对照组93名.研究开始阶段,两组均要求儿童父母填写一份KABP问卷和家庭社会环境与健康问卷,随后对实验组采取健康教育进行干预,而对照组不采取任何措施.干预的时间为3个月,随后对2组的全部儿童进行血铅水平复测.结果实验组干预后父母的铅中毒知识均有所提高,前后比较差异均有高度统计学意义;而对照组对儿童铅中毒的概念和预防知识也有部分提高.实验组在健康教育后,儿童及父母多种接触铅高危行为也有显著改善;而对照组只有少数改善.两组儿童血铅水平均有所下降,血铅下降值分别为55 μg/L和33 μg/L,具有统计学意义(t=4.979, 3.398, P<0.01);但实验组比对照组多下降22 μg/L(t=3.531, P<0.01).采用多元逐步回归分析排除可能的混杂因素后,有14个变量最终进入血铅水平变化的逐步回归方程,这些变量有父母预防儿童铅中毒知识的提高、对儿童铅中毒态度的转变及儿童吃零食习惯的改变等.结论对父母进行健康教育可明显提高家长对儿童铅中毒预防知识的了解,有效降低轻中度铅中毒儿童的血铅水平.健康教育可作为轻中度儿童铅中毒临床处理的常规手段之一.

Parental education to reduce blood lead levels in children with mild and moderate lead poisoning: a randomized controlled study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of parental education on reducing lead exposure of children by examining the changes in blood lead levels of children whose parents receiving or not receiving educational intervention. METHODS: Two hundred children with confirmed blood lead levels beyond 100 microg/L were selected. They were randomized into two groups, 107 children in study group and 93 in control. At the beginning of the study, parents of both study and control groups were called for interview to complete KABP questionnaire and lead study questionnaire. The study group was provided with interventional measures while control group was not contacted until the end of study. Intervention of parental education was undertaken by means of a TV program, a set of slides and a brochure, and focused on the questions regarding harmful effects of lead poisoning, the sources of environmental lead and prevention of this preventable disease. Tests for blood lead level were repeated for both study and control groups 3 months after the determination of the initial blood lead level. RESULTS: All the relevant knowledge of health effect, lead sources and prevention of childhood lead poisoning of participating parents of study group were improved significantly (chi(2) = 14.06, 13.07, 10.08, 28.26, P < 0.01) after educational intervention while parents control group also were significantly improved in the sub-catalogs of concept and prevention (chi(2) = 7.69, 8.64, P < 0.01), but not the health effect and sources of childhood lead poisoning. Children and parents' behavior in study group was improved accordingly and significantly. Less children ate popcorn (chi(2) = 4.08, P < 0.05), less children drank tap-water in the morning (chi(2) = 23.04, P < 0.01), more kids washed their hands before eating (chi(2) = 5.82, P < 0.05), less kids played on road side (chi(2) = 9.60, P < 0.01), and more parents changed their coat or took shower or washed hands before going home after work (chi(2) = 4.00, P < 0.05). But in the control group only the number of kids playing on road side was decreased significantly (chi(2) = 9.60, P < 0.01). A general decline in blood lead levels was detected in both groups with statistical significance at P < 0.01. However, the decrease in blood lead levels was more remarkable in the study group. There was average reduction of 55 microg/L (35%) in blood lead levels for study group (t = 4.979, P < 0.01) and an almost 33 microg/L (20%) for control (t = 3.398, P < 0.01). The reduction in blood lead level was 22 microg/L greater in study group (t = 3.531, P < 0.01). The study also showed that the effectiveness of the educational interventions depended upon various aspects. Fourteen variables were included in the stepwise multiple regression equation of blood lead level changes. Such as parents' occupational exposure to lead, the improvement of knowledge about prevention of childhood lead poisoning, the chang of habit of snacks intake, parents' education levels, the change of attitude of parents for the childhood lead poisoning, etc. CONCLUSION: Educating parents is proved to be an effective approach for children with mild and moderate lead poisoning.