Toy safety in Singapore: where are we now?

INTRODUCTION Toy-related injuries, a common reason for emergency department visits in the paediatric population, constitute a significant health burden in Singapore. Although government regulations imposed on toys and childcare-related items are in place, parents and caregivers still play a pivotal role in ensuring toy safety in children. We hypothesised that deficiencies in knowledge surrounding toy safety issues exist in our adult population. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, to examine the current attitudes, knowledge and practices of the local population regarding toy safety. Hypothetical questions on toy selection were included in the questionnaire to assess respondents' ability to identify appropriate toys and discern potentially dangerous toys for a specified age group. RESULTS The scores of the 93 respondents showed that they were less able to identify appropriate toys for children in the 1-2 years (66.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 61.4%-72.0%) and 2-3 years age groups (69.9%; 95% CI 65.5%-74.3%) than for children in the 0-1 year (82.8%; 95% CI 79.9%-85.7%) and 3-5 years age groups (85.2%; 95% CI 81.2%-89.2%). Our survey also identified key areas for improvement (e.g. educational efforts and government regulation) in current practices in order to attain a higher level of toy safety. CONCLUSION Our study highlights the current knowledge deficit in toy safety issues and the need for improvements in regulation, education and surveillance in order to minimise the risk of toy-related injuries in children.