Objective: Supine sleep positioning (SSP) has been shown to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and preterm infants are at higher risk for SIDS. Population-based estimates of SSP are lacking for the preterm population. The objectives of this study are: (1) compare the prevalence of SSP after hospital discharge for preterm and term infants in the United States; and (2) assess racial/ethnic disparities in SSP for preterm and term infants.
Study design: We analyzed the 2000 to 2011 data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 35 states. We measured prevalence of SSP by preterm and term gestational age (GA) categories. We calculated adjusted prevalence ratios (APR) to evaluate the likelihood of SSP for each GA category compared with term infants and the likelihood of SSP for non-Hispanic black (NHB) and Hispanic infants compared with non-Hispanic white (NHW) infants.
Results: Prevalence of SSP varied by GA: ⩽27, 59.7%; 28 0/7 to 33 6/7, 63.7%; 34 0/7 to 36 6/7 (late preterm), 63.6%; and 37 0/7 to 42 6/7 (term) weeks, 66.8% (P<0.001). In the adjusted analyses, late preterm infants were slightly less likely to be placed in SSP compared with term infants (APR: 0.96, confidence interval: 0.95 to 0.98). There were racial/ethnic disparities in SSP for all GA categories when NHB and Hispanic infants were compared with NHW infants.
Conclusions: All infants had suboptimal adherence to SSP indicating a continued need to better engage families about SSP. Parents of late preterm infants and families of NHB and Hispanic infants will also require greater attention given their decreased likelihood of SSP.