Sudden infant death syndrome: Knowledge of its risk factors among italian healthcare professionals

This paper focuses on healthcare professionals' knowledge about risk and protective factors of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. We adapted a Rasch model to obtain an index of unpreparedness which we then analysed with a random logistic regression model. Healthcare professionals from different regions present significant differences in their knowledge. All healthcare professionals, especially physicians, show a significantly lower knowledge than paediatricians. Similar conclusions can be drawn with respect to those not working in birth centres or in family planning clinics. © 2012 Università del Salento.