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Abstract

Introduction: In spite of advances in medical technology, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome (SUIDS) remain common causes of death throughout the US, and especially in South Dakota. This study aims to elucidating the assumptions that physicians and patients have regarding SIDS.

Methods: 300 surveys were distributed to care givers of 0-9 months old children at a local pediatric office. An additional 5 surveys were distributed to physicians at this clinic who were asked to predict the overall outcomes of the caregiver surveys. Data were entered into excel and analyzed with ANOVA.

Results: Caregivers who reported social media sites as a source of information were statistically more likely to be non-compliant than those who did not (73% vs 80%). Survey data showed that areas of greatest compliance among caretakers were with regard to secondhand smoke exposure (99%) and crib ownership (99%), and the most poorly compliant areas were regarding pacifier use (62%) and over bundling (57%).

Conclusions: Physician predictions of survey results for their patient population was fairly accurate, while patient assessment of their own knowledge was not clinically significant. Patient populations that were especially likely to be poorly informed regarding SIDS were those who reported social media sites as sources of education. The most poorly understood SIDS/SUIDS concepts were those related to pacifier use, over bundling and co-sleeping.

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