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Sudden infant death syndrome: Knowledge and practise in parents of preterm infants
Author(s) -
Rohana Jaafar,
Ishak Shareena,
Wan Nurulhuda Wan Md Zin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/ped.13605
Subject(s) - medicine , sudden infant death syndrome , kuala lumpur , pediatrics , supine position , gestational age , pregnancy , surgery , marketing , biology , business , genetics
Background Preterm infants are at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome ( SIDS ) compared with term born infants and the risk is inversely proportional to the gestational age and birthweight. Parents of these infants should have adequate knowledge and practise the recommended SIDS risk reduction measures. Methods A survey was conducted between December 2016 and August 2017 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. Parents of preterm infants ≤36 weeks’ gestation were invited to answer a self‐administered questionnaire to assess their knowledge and practise regarding SIDS risk reduction. Results Forty‐nine (61.33%) of the 80 parents had heard of SIDS prior to the interview, with social media being the commonest source of information (67.3%). Only 35 (43.7%) correctly answered at least five of nine questions on knowledge of SIDS risk reduction (“good knowledge”). When compared with the group of parents who answered less than five questions correctly (“poor knowledge”), there was no significant difference in the demographic and infant characteristics between the groups. The majority (68.8%) of parents practised bed sharing with their infants, and this was significantly more common in the group of parents with poor knowledge ( P = 0.01). Household smoking was also significantly more common in the group of parents with poor knowledge ( P = 0.048). Conclusion Knowledge on SIDS risk reduction measures was generally poor among parents of preterm infants in this study. Cigarette smoking, bed sharing and non‐supine sleep positions, which are associated with increased risk of SIDS , were common practise among the present subjects.