related to these practices, according to a new study.
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In the past, the American Academy of Pediatrics has made safe sleep recommendations regarding infant sleep position and location. According to the new study’s authors, Rachel Y. Moon, MD, and her colleagues, parents had poorly adhered to these recommendations in several studies. However, some improvements with adherence were seen when a mobile health intervention was used in the Social Media and Risk Reduction Training Study (JAMA. 2017;318[4]:351-9). The new study, published in Pediatrics, used the same intervention described in that JAMA paper.
The more recent mobile health project sought to identify which factors, as outlined by a theory of planned behavior, were affected by a mobile health intervention through analysis of survey responses. Of the 1,600 women who provided written consent, 1,263 (78.9%) completed the survey.
According to the results, the intervention did more to affect attitudes (adjusted odds ratio, 2.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.72-3.20) than it did to affect perceived norms (aOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.27-2.36) regarding supine sleeping position. It had similar effects on attitudes (aOR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.54-2.36) versus perceived norms (aOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.13-1.66) regarding sleep location as well. The intervention had no significant effect on perceived maternal control regarding either sleeping position or location.
While levels of safe sleep adherence were lower in African Americans and subgroups of low economic status at baseline, the intervention improved the rates of adherence in these groups to levels comparable with other groups included in the study.
“Recognition that these attitudes and social norms may be the main drivers of mothers’ choices regarding infant-sleep practices should inform health messaging strategies, including the use of [mobile heath], to promote [safe sleep],” the researchers concluded.
The study was funded by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the CJ foundation for sudden infant death syndrome. The National Institutes of Health also provided funding.
SOURCE: Moon RY et al. Pediatrics. 2019. doi: 10.1542/peds.2018-2799.