Abstract â–¡ 34

Introduction: Information campaigns on causes and prevention of SIDS, e.g. prone sleeping position may reduce SIDS rates by 50% and more. There has not been a nation-wide campaign in Germany yet. But SIDS rates in Germany fell, too, probably due to the information people are getting from the media. This information is not given by professionals. We therefore established the first nation-wide Infoline on SIDS in Germany to give parents, health professionals and others competent information on SIDS to help them prevent SIDS. This information is based on scientific evidence.

Material and Methods: Paediatricians of the University of Heidelberg, members of the parents association (GEPS) and technicians of home care companies formed a team which established the first nation-wide Infoline (Service 0180-5213212) on SIDS in March 1997. For one hour each week the Infoline is switched from an answering machine to a personal service telephone on SIDS. Two telephones are connected - one for a physician and the other for a member of GEPS Germany. This ensures that the best possible advice is given. In a standardised questionnaire, we record anonymously and voluntarily the following data: area code, sex, age, where people got the telephone number from and if SIDS has occurred in the family, friends or neighbourhood. The questionnaire is completed with documentation of the main topics of each call.

Results: There were 294 telephone consultations, 250 women and 44 men aged 19 to 86 years. The average duration of a call was 14 minutes. Most callers (50%) were between 30 and 39 years old. 81% of the callers were parents, 6.1% were medical staff (physicians 1.7%, nurses 4.4%), 4.7% were grand parents and 3.4% were pregnant women. 10.2% of the callers were parents of SIDS victims, and 17% had a SIDS in their neighbourhood. 11.6% told us spontaneously that they had an enormous fear of SIDS without ever having had a SIDS case in their family or in their neighbourhood. The most frequently questions asked concerned risk factors of SIDS (44%), prevention (40%) and home monitoring (13%). The interest on SIDS is much higher in the western than in the eastern part of Germany, furthermore most callers lived in a state of Germany where a campaign against prone sleeping position had been done. The number of calls per week depended on the number of free announcements in the media (newspapers, magazines, radio or television).

Conclusion: There is an enormous interest on more detailed information about SIDS in the German population. We were able to help a lot of people obtain new, national and international information and ways to prevent SIDS. The Infoline presents us with common and sometimes very confusing theories and unfounded fears about SIDS in our population. Thus, an Infoline may reduce the fear caused by unreliable theories. In conclusion, our Infoline may be an instrument for prevention of SIDS. There is still an alarming number of people who need further information concerning the prevention of SIDS. We believe that a campaign is needed to reduce fear and to inform the German population on risk factors of SIDS. We plan to extend the operating hours of our Infoline and to include other centres.