Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29243157›Full record

ArticleForensic science, medicine, and pathology2018

Why is a prone sleeping position dangerous for certain infants?

Roger W Byard, Fiona Bright, Robert Vink

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Forensic science, medicine, and pathology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Does citing early SIDS research skew contemporary conclusions?Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Impaired motor control in SIDS infants.International journal of legal medicine · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Roger W ByardSchool of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Level 6 Medical School North Building, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia. roger.byard@sa.gov.au.
Fiona BrightSchool of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Level 6 Medical School North Building, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
Robert VinkSansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
University of Adelaide · AUUniversity of South Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The prone (face down) sleeping position is known to be associated with a significantly increased risk of sudden and unexpected death in infancy (sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS), however, the reasons for this are unclear. Suggested mechanisms have involved suffocation from occlusion of the external airways by soft bedding/pillows or from flattening of the nose with backward displacement of the tongue, rebreathing of carbon dioxide, blunting of arousal responses with decreased cardiac responses to auditory stimulation, diaphragmatic splinting or fatigue, lowering of vasomotor tone with tachycardia, nasopharyngeal bacterial overgrowth, overheating, alteration of sleep patterns, compromise of cerebral blood flow and upper airway obstruction from distortion of nasal cartilages. Recent studies have, however, shown a significant reduction in substance P in the inferior portion of the olivo-cerebellar complex in SIDS infants which is crucial for the integration of motor and sensory information for the control of head and neck movement. This deficit may explain why some infants are not able to move their faces away from potentially dangerous sleeping environments.

Indexed as

Prone PositionSleepAsphyxiaBedding and LinensBrain StemHumansInfantRisk FactorsSleep Arousal DisordersSubstance PSudden Infant DeathSubstance PHead and neck movementProne positionSIDSSubstance P

Identifiers

PMID29243157
OpenAlexW2774557974

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.