Research Paper on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Factors Associated With Parental Compliance With Infant Sleep

Introduction

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been a growing problem across the globe. Many studies and reviews have attempted to explain the problem and give recommendations. The review Factors Associated with Parental Compliance with Supine Infant Sleep: An Integrative Review by Zundo, Richards, Ahmed, and Codington (2017) examines reasons parents fail to put their children lying facing upwards to prevent sudden infant fatalities. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critique of the review.

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The problem statement of the research was infant death syndrome in America. The problem statement was of education significance. It agreed with the title of the review. To an average reader, the problem statement was visible at the beginning of the review. Additionally, the authors clearly stated the research question, which agreed with the title and was not limited to only the researchers. Also, the research question was clearly written. The authors did a good job detailing the problem, intervention, comparison, and outcome in the research question. The problem statement clearly matches with the research question. The topic is important to nursing because of the high rates of infant deaths across America. Additionally, the topic of SIDS is relevant because it helps to create awareness on the need to promote safe sleep among infants to reduce fatalities.

The authors pulled out literature from Cochrane databases that have systematic reviews such as PubMed, EBSCOhost, and CINAHL. In all the articles from the databases, the authors used the keywords SIDS supine position, prevention and control, parental compliance, nursing, as well as Back to Sleep and Safe to Sleep campaigns (Zundo et al., 2017). The authors explained how they determined the articles they were to include in the review clearly. The amount of literature provided was sufficient and balanced. Nevertheless, the authors failed to include a PRISMA type flow chart to show their article collection process. They would have incorporated the PRISMA flow chart to show the reader how they arrived to their chosen articles. The authors only included a table containing a summary of sixteen articles that they incorporated to answer their research question.

The study about SIDS is relevant in today's society because of the high number of infant deaths that would be prevented if mothers emulated the supine position towards their children. The study was in-depth as it made use of quality references from reputable sources. The authors performed thorough research from the Cochrane databases to determine factors associated with compliance with the supine position for infants (Zundo et al., 2017). The authors achieved the level of evidence in their systematic searches because it was organized, unbiased, and relevant. Undoubtedly, the authors used a critical appraisal assessment in systematically evaluating the evidence. They incorporated an ancestry approach to explore the literature and excluded literature that examined the consequences of the supine position because it went beyond their scope (Zundo et al., 2017). Their use of scientific research depicted the quality evaluation of the study.

The authors brought all relevant information about SIDS that agreed with their research question. They used sixteen articles to establish evidence of parental noncompliance to the supine position for their infants. Their evidence base was wide, which helped in future research and identify gaps in knowledge. The authors synthesized the evidence about the topic instead of just providing a summary. In the review, the authors discussed parent knowledge about sleep position. According to the authors, 11 of the 16 studies found that parents were aware of the supine position but chose not to make their infants sleep in that manner as their children grew past 3 months because they believe that SIDS affects only younger infants (Zundo et al., 2017). The synthesis of evidence matches the literature review table, which contains the summary of the included studies.

The conclusion matches the evidence presented in the synthesis. In their findings, Zundo et al., (2017) found that higher non-compliance of the supine position in infants was higher among lower-income families, African Americans, as well as low educated parents and caregivers. In their discussion on the integrated review, the authors presented evidence from one systematic review, which indicated that factors that contribute to non-compliance include low-income status, unemployment, and low educational achievement. Also, evidence from all sixteen studies presented by the authors showed that the supine sleep position is safer for infants because it prevents SIDS. The findings are significant because they supported the research question and evidence presented throughout the review. Also, the conclusion, which was based on the findings were logically stated.

The authors created a literature review table, which provided a summary of the sixteen articles used in the review. The table included sections such as the authors, year, and themes, purpose and location, research design and sample characteristics, as well as the results. Undoubtedly, the literature review table was comprehensive because it had all the information a reader would want to know about the sources before reading other parts of the review. Additionally, the table made it easy for a reader to make comparisons in the sources because of the different sections the authors made. The authors concluded that Safe Sleep and Back Sleep campaigns are necessary to spread awareness on the importance of the supine position. These conclusions are agreeable. Parents regardless of their race and ethnicity, as well as socio-economic status, need to use the supine sleep position to prevent SIDS in their infants.

Conclusion

Overall, the authors provided an in-depth research, particularly for a systematic review. The entire article was well written and organized. Considering the rise and spread of SIDS in infants, there was a need for a systematic review to provide literature on the situation. The review, however, failed to provide a PRISMA flow chart, which would help show the reader how they arrived in selecting their articles. It is believable that the quality of sources used was exemplary.

Reference

Zundo, K., Richards, E. A., Ahmed, A. H., and Codington, J. A. (2017). Factors associated with parental compliance with supine infant sleep: An integrative review. Pediatric Nursing, 43(2).