Efficacy of a SIDS risk factor education methodology at a native American and Caucasian site

Objective: To complete a community based efficacy study of a SIDS risk reduction methodology. Methods: We utilized two community sites for this study: 1) a Native American home visiting program for pregnant and young mothers; and 2) an obstetrics department in a community hospital. Pre and posttests were used to measure learning. The risk reduction intervention was delivered by hospital nurses or the home visiting staff and required about 20 minutes. Each of the nine risk factors was discussed. Results: We completed paired pre and post testing with 341 women. The pre tests found substantial knowledge deficits about SIDS risk factors in both groups. The pre and posttest changes for the nine risk factors ranged from 5% to 74%. Participants from both groups demonstrated nearly equivalent rates of learning for all nine of the risk concepts. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the efficacy of this brief intervention program. The program was effective in increasing parental knowledge of the risk factors targeted by this study in both settings. The magnitude of change supports additional research with this program in other settings and with additional populations.