Prevalence and the Relationship between Characteristics and Parental Conditions with Risk Factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a disease which causes unexpected death of infants aged less than 1 year. Given the undeniable role of parents in the presence or absence of SIDS risk factors, the present study aimed to studythe prevalence and the relationship between characteristics and conditions of parent’s infants with SIDS risk factors. In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 1,021 infants aged 1 to 12 months in the health centers in Qom-Iran in 2014 were selected as the sample by stratified random sampling method. The required data were collected using an author-made questionnaire on SIDS risk factors. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS 18 at a significance level of 95%. 4.5% of mothers were younger than 20 years, 92.3% infants had a co-sleeping with their parents, and 35.7% of infants had a bed-sharing with their parents. 19% of infants used Soft pillow. Study findings showed that there is no significant relationship between the age of mothers and using a shared bedroom (P>0.05), while such a relationship exists between education backgrounds of parents and sharing a bedroom (P<0.05). The results showed that socioeconomic and educational status of parents play a significant role in the development of SIDS risk factors. Therefore, the incidence of such factors can be reduced through improving parental awareness and education.