IJERPH, Vol. 21, Pages 471: Practices and Awareness Regarding an Infant & rsquo;s Sleep Environment among Japanese Caregivers: A Cross-Sectional Survey

IJERPH, Vol. 21, Pages 471: Practices and Awareness Regarding an Infant’s Sleep Environment among Japanese Caregivers: A Cross-Sectional Survey International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph21040471 Authors: Ayako Himemiya-Hakucho Ayumi Taketani Aoi Nakagawa Hiroki Sakai Azumi Shigemoto Izumi Takase Preventing sudden, unexpected infant death related to sleep, especially suffocation and sudden infant death syndrome, remains challenging globally. To evaluate factors associated with an unsafe sleep environment (SE) for infants in Japan, this cross-sectional study investigated the current status of practices and awareness among caregivers about a safe SE. Two hundred and fifty-four caregivers of infants in Yamaguchi Prefecture participated. Among the caregivers, 96.0% could not thoroughly practice a safe SE, although 65.0% had knowledge about a safe SE. More unsafe SE practices were significantly associated with 8- to 11-month-old infants than with 0- to 3-month-old infants, using the same practice as for an older child than with accessing information or a familiar person than with mass media as the most useful source of information. The differences in having knowledge were not associated with their practice. Many caregivers obtained information about an infant’s SE from mass media and a familiar person. They preferred education via a face-to-face method by medical experts to raise awareness about a ...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research