The Awareness of Sudden Infant Death Among Saudi Arabian Women in 2023.

Abstract

Background Suddeninfantdeathsyndrome(SIDS) refers to the unexpected and unexplained death of a child under one year old. Thepathogenesis of SIDSremainsunclear. However, certain factors such asthe child'ssleeping position,sleeping on asoft mattress, and maternal smoking have been suggested to contribute to its occurrence. The objective of this studywasto evaluate the level of awarenessofSIDS among Saudi Arabian women in 2023. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 mothers in Saudi Arabia, over a period of three months, from June to August 2023, usingan online questionnairetogathersocio-demographic informationfrom mothersof infants younger than one year oldinSaudi Arabia,thesleeping practices oftheirinfants, andtheirknowledge aboutSIDSrisk factors.Datawerecoded using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, NY), and statistical significance tests were employed for data analysis.A p-value of<0.05 was considered significant. Results Among the 277 participating mothers, 44% were 31-40 years old,93%wereSaudi,60% were employed, 65% were nonsmokers, and 64%placedbabiesinasupine positionfor sleep.About37% ofmothers used a duvet for bedding during summer,compared to66%whouseda duvetduring winter, and 81% utilized a soft mattress coverin their children's beds.Additionally, 67% of mothers reportedthat their childrenuseda pacifier whilesleeping. More than half (54%) of mothers were aware of SIDSwith media as their primary source of information.Among those under 21 years old, 50% demonstrated a high level of awareness, compared to36%ofthose aged over 50. Conclusion Mostwomen in this study were found to be unaware of SIDS. Among those who were aware,themedia was the primary source of information. Higher educational attainment was associated with better understanding.