Sleep Safety Research Articles

A call to action about promoting healthy sleep among children

Abstract Infancy is an ideal time to engage parents in foundational sleep health promotion, as many parents have concerns about infant sleep. However, recent work suggests most Canadian public health resources on infant sleep does not meet clear communication criteria and that these resources often only focus on sleep safety, rather than broader sleep health. Information is also limited with respect to how parents can manage infant sleep difficulties. While eHealth intervention programs can increase the accessibility of evidence-based pediatric sleep health information, recent parental feedback indicates that usability, personalization, and flexibility are key factors in facilitating use. Additional co-design workshops with care providers and parents provided critical guidance on the need to develop more inclusive infant sleep interventions, consistent with previous literature. This guidance suggests infant sleep interventions should be culturally humble and non-judgmental, inclusive of parenting partners, and provide credible, timely, and meaningful information.

Sleep-related safety behaviours predict insomnia symptoms 1 year later in a sample of university students.

Several studies have demonstrated the relevance of cognitive factors in the development of insomnia complaints, but very few have investigated how these factors influence the development of insomnia complaints over time. In this study we set out to investigate key factors associated with present insomnia severity and the development of insomnia complaints over time. We employed a two-wave longitudinal design where we measured insomnia severity, pre-sleep arousal, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, sleep-related worry and safety-behaviours in a sample of students at baseline and 1 year later. At baseline, 353 respondents filled in the questionnaires and 79 completed these a year later. In the cross-sectional analyses, pre-sleep arousal and sleep-related worry were unique contributors to insomnia severity. Using baseline data to predict insomnia severity 1 year later, only sleep-related safety emerged as a predictor. These findings suggest that sleep-related worry and pre-sleep arousal are the primary factors influencing current severity. In terms of development and/or persistence, sleep safety may constitute a potentially underestimated factor.

A policy analysis of sleep-related legislation for Canadian licensed childcare facilities

BackgroundNational legislative guidelines for sleep and rest are lacking in the Canadian licensed childcare sector. No review of Canadian legislation for licensed childcare facilities has focused on sleep. This paper provides a review of the Canadian provincial and territorial legislative landscape, regarding sleep, rest, and naps in licensed childcare centers.MethodsChildcare statutes and regulations for each province and territory were identified and downloaded on a particular date. Statutes and regulations were reviewed focusing on sections articulating licensed childcare facility mandates governing sleep, rest, naps, and sleep equipment. An excel file was used to facilitate systematic data retrieval and comparisons across provinces and territories. Two authors developed and discussed themes that summarized data from the documents.ResultsNo statutes indicated recommendations for sleep, rest, or naps. Only one regulation defined rest (Alberta). Our analysis of regulations identified four themes representing sleep, rest, and naps: programming (general programming, daily programming); space (dedicated space, amount of space, age-specific space); equipment (developmental appropriateness, acceptable sleep equipment, age-specific equipment); and safety (staffing during sleep/rest, sleep position, sleep monitoring, sleep equipment safety, prohibited practices). In Canada, minimal regulatory consistency is evident in required sleep programming, space, acceptability of sleep equipment, and sleep safety considerations. Most jurisdictions’ regulations indicated necessity for developmentally appropriate rest or sleep areas and equipment, in particular for infants, but there was minimal consistency in defining infant age groups.ConclusionsAlthough we identified themes related to sleep across regulations, childcare regulations differ in their definitions of infants and specifications for children’s sleep and rest in licensed Canadian childcare facilities. Without adequate definitions in legislative components of appropriate sleep duration linked to children’s developmental stages, childcare facilities lack guidance to support healthy sleep for children in their care. Future research can examine translation of healthy sleep guidelines into government legislation and mandates for sleep, rest, and naps among young children in licensed childcare.

Care bundle for preventing intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants: a best practice implementation project.

Intraventricular hemorrhages remain a major problem in neonatology, because their complications affect neonatal morbidity, mortality, and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. The aim of this project was to prevent intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants during their first days of life in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This pre- and post-implementation clinical audit project used the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework and was conducted in a tertiary-level Spanish NICU with a consecutive sample. A baseline audit was conducted using 13 audit criteria derived from JBI summaries of the best available evidence. This was followed by the implementation of an action plan, which included a care bundle and health care professionals' education. These improvement strategies were then evaluated using a follow-up audit. The baseline and follow-up audits evaluated 54 and 56 infants, respectively. The follow-up audit showed 100% improvement for Criteria 2, 3, 6, and 7, which covered sleep safety and noise. Criteria 12 and 13, which covered cord clamping and positioning the infant, improved by 25.99%. Criterion 9, on antenatal corticosteroids, showed a slight improvement of 5.56%. This study increased compliance with an evidence-based, family-centered care approach to preventing intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants. This was achieved by conducting a baseline and follow-up audit, implementing a training program, and keeping more comprehensive nursing records. Further studies could assess the long-term effectiveness of interventions and/or the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage and neurodevelopmental disorders in premature infants. http://links.lww.com/IJEBH/A262.

The Tension Between AAP Safe Sleep Guidelines and Infant Sleep.

To understand tension mothers experience when attempting to follow American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep guidelines and enhancing infant and parental sleep. Surveys and focus groups were conducted from November 2022 and March 2023 with United States-based English-speaking mothers of infants <6 months of age recruited via social media and who reported a nonrecommended sleep position and/or location ≥2 times the prior week. Twenty-five mothers participated in focus groups and surveys. A total of 80% reported holding or rocking their infant to sleep; 76% fed their infant to sleep. Almost all were aware of the ABCs (Alone, Back, Crib) of safe sleep and intended to follow them before delivery. Many felt that ABCs were unrealistic and placed their infants in nonrecommended locations or positions because they perceived them as more comfortable and helping their infant fall and stay asleep. Mothers were more likely to use nonrecommended practices when they were awake or sleeping nearby and believed they could closely monitor their infant. Some questioned whether ABCs were the only way to achieve safe sleep. Some prioritized other safety concerns (eg, fall prevention) over sudden infant death syndrome or sudden unexpected infant death prevention. Mothers expressed confidence about getting their baby to sleep in general but were less confident that they could do this while following guidelines. Despite awareness of the ABCs, mothers regularly engaged in nonrecommended practices with the goal of improving their own and their infant's sleep. Interventions focused on improving infant and parental sleep while maintaining sleep safety are needed.

Sleep Safety in Emergency Medical Services Workers

Sleep Safety in Emergency Medical Services Workers

Losing Sleep: Risk, Responsibility, and Infant Sleep Safety

Losing Sleep: Risk, Responsibility, and Infant Sleep Safety

Medication adherence, anxiety and depression, and safety of epileptic patients following receiving information about sudden unexpected deaths in epilepsy: A quasi-experimental study with before/after design

IntroductionIt is very important to provide epileptic patients with sufficient knowledge of SUDEP and empower them regarding its prevention. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the educational intervention of receiving information about SUDEP on medication adherence, anxiety and depression, and the safety of epileptic patients. Patients and MethodsThis study was conducted on 60 epilepsy patients referred to the specialized epilepsy clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran, Iran, from April 2022 to February 2023. Data were collected by the Morisky medication adherence scale, hospital anxiety and depression scales, and the researcher-made checklists of bathing safety, sleep safety, and patient seizure preparation before and after the intervention. The educational intervention was conducted through the video and pamphlet regarding knowledge about SUDEP. Wilcoxon and paired t-tests were used to compare the data changes following the intervention. ResultsMost patients were male, with an age range of 18 to 29 years old. The mean score of anxiety and depression before and after the educational intervention did not show a statistically significant difference (P = 0.928); however, the mean scores of medication adherence, bathing safety, sleep safety, and preparation for seizure after the educational intervention increased significantly (P < 0.05). ConclusionKnowledge about SUDEP would be able to encourage epileptic patients to better adhere to medication; and make them empower regarding seizure preparation, bathing safety, and sleep safety.

Practicing What We Preach: An Effort to Improve Safe Sleep of Hospitalized Infants.

Introduction:To prevent sudden unexpected infant death, pediatric providers recommend the ABCs of infant sleep: Alone, on the Back, and in an empty Crib. This study’s objective was to document sleep practices of infants admitted to a large children’s hospital, examine adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep guidelines, and develop interventions to improve guideline adherence.Methods:We conducted a pre/post quality improvement study at a single quaternary care medical center from 2015 to 2019. Infants 0 to younger than 12 months were observed in their sleeping environment pre- and post-implementation of multiple hospital-wide interventions to improve the sleep safety of hospitalized infants.Results:Only 1.3% of 221 infants observed preintervention met all ABCs of safe sleep; 10.6% of 237 infants met the ABCs of safe sleep postintervention. Significant improvements in the post-intervention cohort included sleeping in a crib (94% versus 80% preintervention; P < 0.001), avoidance of co-sleeping (3% versus 15% preintervention; P < 0.001), absence of supplies in the crib (58% versus 15% preintervention; P < 0.001), and presence of an empty crib (13% versus 2% preintervention; P < 0.001).Conclusions:Most infants hospitalized at our institution do not sleep in a safe environment. However, the implementation of a care bundle led to improvements in the sleep environment in the hospital. Further research is necessary to continue improving in-hospital safe sleep and to assess whether these practices impact the home sleep environment.

Informed Parents- Safe Environment for Children

Objective: Childhood injury is a significant public health problem. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness of families about accident/injury risks both indoors and outdoors and provide counselling within the scope of parent education by using tools related to environmental safety. Material and Methods: This study was a two-centered, prospective study conducted with the participation of parents with children under the age of five. Initially, a preliminary assessment was made using a questionnaire. Then, face-to-face training was provided using an infographic brochure from the “Basic Information for Families for Child Health and Safety in the First 5 Years” booklet created by the Child Health Association (https:// cocuksagligidernegi.org/). Parents were given a “Safety Checklist” so they could assess child safety at home. In the third and sixth months, families were called and asked questions again about their attitudes and behaviors towards preventing accidents/injuries. Results: A total of 157 parents were included in the study. It was determined that the rates of safe behavior in-car safety, sleep safety, toy safety, kitchen and bathroom safety, and indoor arrangements increased statistically. Conclusion: Family counseling and education can lead to behavioral change to create a safe environment for children and prevent accidents/ injuries. Multifaceted initiatives are more likely to successfully reduce injuries at home and increase the effectiveness of education with the use of infographic materials, continuity of education, preparing checklists to be applied at home and sharing them with families.

Transition to a Safe Home Sleep Environment for the NICU Patient.

Of the nearly 3.8 million infants born in the United States in 2018, 8.3% had low birth weight (<2500 g [5.5 lb]) and 10% were born preterm (gestational age of <37 completed weeks). Many of these infants and others with congenital anomalies, perinatally acquired infections, and other disease require admission to a NICU. In the past decade, admission rates to NICUs have been increasing; it is estimated that between 10% and 15% of infants will spend time in a NICU, representing approximately 500 000 neonates annually. Approximately 3600 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (R95), ill-defined deaths (R99), and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (W75). Preterm and low birth weight infants are particularly vulnerable, with an incidence of death 2 to 3 times greater than healthy term infants. Thus, it is important for health care professionals to prepare families to maintain their infant in a safe sleep environment, as per the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, infants in the NICU setting commonly require care that is inconsistent with infant sleep safety recommendations. The conflicting needs of the NICU infant with the necessity to provide a safe sleep environment before hospital discharge can create confusion for providers and distress for families. This technical report is intended to assist in the establishment of appropriate NICU protocols to achieve a consistent approach to transitioning NICU infants to a safe sleep environment as soon as medically possible, well before hospital discharge.

Investigation of the Effect of Infant Sleep Safety Education on Nursing Intern Students

Investigation of the Effect of Infant Sleep Safety Education on Nursing Intern Students

Evaluating Perception of Child Health and Safety Needs in a Community Through the Perspective of Caregivers and Physicians

Objective: To identify and compare child health and safety concerns in the community from the perspective of physicians and caregivers in Louisville. Design: We administered surveys to physicians and caregivers who were asked to list, via open-ended questions, the top three health or safety concerns they had for children in three separate age groups (≤ 3, 4-11, and ≥12 years old). Four reviewers assigned responses to a pre-specified category/subcategory through a schematic designed by the study team and a fifth reviewer addressed any discrepancies and assigned final categories. Agreement in assigning overall categories was measured using Fleiss Kappa and descriptive statistics were used to characterize the responses. Setting: Surveys were administered to caregivers who attended community events in Park Duvalle, a lower socioeconomic neighborhood in Louisville whose residents are predominantly black. Surveys were simultaneously administered to physicians throughout the University of Louisville/Norton Healthcare system. Participants: A total of 41 caregivers with at least one child and 43 physicians were surveyed in this study. Results: Overall categorical agreement between reviewers was k = 0.839, indicating good agreement on assignment. Injury/violence was identified by both caregivers and physicians as the top concern for children across all age groups. Wide variation was found when analyzing specific injury/violence subcategories, with caregivers more worried about household safety (17-40%) and gangs/unsafe neighborhoods (10-50%) while physicians were more concerned about sleep safety (36%), domestic violence (8-27%), and unintentional injury (10-20%). Conclusions: Survey administration was a feasible method of comparing health and safety concerns among caregivers and physicians. We identified injury/violence as the top health and safety concern across all age groups in our community but noted variation on the specific type of injury/violence. Replication of our study methodology in other neighborhoods may allow for improved comparison of caregiver and physician concerns.

Improving infant sleep safety via electronic health record communication: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundWith increased use of telehealth, interventions to improve infant sleep environments have not been explored. This study sought to assess the feasibility and efficacy of using electronic health record patient portals to transmit photographs of infant sleep between mothers and healthcare professionals as part of an intervention to promote sleep environments consistent with AAP guidelines.MethodsOne hundred eighty-four mother-newborn dyads consented to participate in a randomized trial requiring patient portal registration within 1 month of delivery. We first assessed feasibility as measured by a) the proportion of consented mothers enrolling in the portal and b) maternal adherence to prompts to submit photographs of their infant sleeping to the research team through the patient portal. Intervention group mothers were prompted at 1 and 2 months; controls were prompted only at 2 months. Efficacy was determined via research assistant review of submitted photographs. These assistants were trained to detect sudden unexplained infant death risk factors utilizing AAP guidelines. Standardized feedback was returned to mothers through the patient portal. We used Fisher’s Exact test to assess group differences in guideline adherence at 2 months.ResultsOne hundred nine mothers (59%) enrolled in the patient portal and were randomized to intervention (N = 55) and control (N = 54) groups. 21 (38, 95% CI 25–52%) intervention group participants sent photographs at 1 month and received personalized feedback. Across both groups at 2 months, 40 (37, 95% CI 28–46%) sent photographs; 56% of intervention group participants who submitted photographs met all safe sleep criteria compared with 46% of controls (difference 0.10, 95% CI − 0.26 to 0.46, p = .75). Common reasons for guideline non-adherence were sleeping in a room without a caregiver (43%), loose bedding (15%) and objects (8%) on the sleep surface.ConclusionsUtilizing the patient portal to individualize safe infant sleep is possible, however, we encountered numerous barriers in this trial to assess its effects on promoting safe infant sleep. Photographs of infants sleeping showed substantial non-adherence to AAP guidelines, suggesting further needs for improvement to promote safe infant sleep practices.Trial registrationName: Improving Infant Sleep Safety With the Electronic Health Record; Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03662048; Date of Registration: September 7, 2018;Data Sharing Statement: None

Improving sleep safety for infants less than one year of age on a general pediatric floor

Background: In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published updated safe sleep environment recommendations in order to reduce the risk of all sleep-related infant deaths. Currently, infants admitted to the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center are often not placed in safe sleep environments. This modeling of unsafe sleep practices by healthcare providers likely increases the prevalence of unsafe sleep practices at home. This quality improvement project seeks to increase the percentage of admitted infants placed in safe sleep environments in order to decrease the risk of sleep-related …

Improving sleep safety for infants less than one year of age on a general pediatric floor

Improving sleep safety for infants less than one year of age on a general pediatric floor

Estimation of Awareness of Acts and Information on Sleep Safety in Those Parents that Have 0-13-month-old Babies

Estimation of Awareness of Acts and Information on Sleep Safety in Those Parents that Have 0-13-month-old Babies

Parental knowledge of safe infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome is inadequate in Croatia.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading category of death for post‐neonatal babies in wealthy countries and rates range from 0.06 to 0.9/1000 liveborn infants (1). Most research into infant sleep safety and SIDS is conducted in large countries and published in English; smaller nations may not have the resources to conduct SIDS case‐control studies, nor the population size to make them viable. Consequently, in some countries SIDS risk‐reduction guidance can be patchy, and parental safe sleep knowledge may be ad‐hoc and based on guidance issued in other countries.

Field assessment of a safe sleep instrument using smartphone technology.

Sudden unexpected infant death is the leading cause of infant mortality with black: white infant mortality remaining at 2:1 for the last decade. Smartphone technology provides a convenient and accessible tool for injury prevention anticipatory guidance among at-risk communities. A convenience sample of pregnant teen mothers who own a smartphone. During a 1-month postnatal home visit, a safe sleep environment survey was administered, infant sleep practices were observed, and mothers trained to take and submit standard infants' sleep environment photographs. Photographs were independently assessed for inter-rater reliability (IRR) across five sleep safety domains (primary outcome): sleep location, surface, position, presence of soft items, and hazards near the sleep area. Expert and novice coders IRR was measured using Cohen's kappa coefficient (K). Sleep safety correlation between photographs and observation, and parent report and observation was determined. Sixteen (57.1%) mothers completed the home visit. Most parents reported infants sleeping supine (78.5) in parents' bedroom (85.9%). Photographs demonstrated sleep position, soft items without the baby present, and hanging toys had perfect agreement across all three coder pairs. Safe sleep experts' IRR demonstrated perfect agreement for sleep location, position, and soft items. While 83.8% of parents were observed putting their infants down to sleep on their back, 78.5% of parents reported doing the same and 82.4% of the photographs demonstrated supine infant sleep position. Using photographs, coders can reliably categorize some key infant sleep safety aspects, and photograph sleep safety is comparable to parent report and direct observation.

Sleep and Transportation Safety: Role of the Employer.

Human fatigue is an important factor in transportation safety and a major causal factor of accidents. Employers play a vital role in minimizing fatigue-related risk, and are legally liable for damages arising from failure to address the risk. By taking an active role as stakeholders in transportation safety, employers not only reduce their risk of adverse safety events and limit their legal liability but may also benefit from improvements in productivity, morale, and health care expenditures. Employers should focus on reducing fatigue-related risk, with ongoing support from sleep safety research.