Description

To determine the accuracy of information on infant sleep safety on the internet using Google; specifically, determining whether and how the information on internet webpages complies with the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) recommendations for a safe infant sleep environment. This is a significant issue because in the United States, approximately 3,600 infants die each year due to sleep-related infant deaths. For many of these deaths, unsafe sleep environments contributed to the infant's death (for example, infants placed to sleep on their stomachs or with loose blankets are at much higher risk of dying due to suffocation). Researchers have been studying ways to help parents understand and follow recommendations to reduce risks of sleep-related infant deaths. A similar study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2012 looking at accuracy related to the 2011 version of the AAP recommendations, which found that only about 43.5% of site provided accurate information. In 2016, the AAP released updated recommendations, so it would be useful to see how accuracy of internet information has changed since then.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Working with the Principal Investigator, the student would: 1.) Conduct internet searches for several phrases related to infant sleep using the "Google" search engine, and save the results for the first 100 websites. 2.) Visit each of those websites and judge accuracy of the information based on the AAP recommendations, tracking our results in an Excel spreadsheet. 3.) Assist in writing up the results of this study in a manuscript to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Desired Qualifications

None listed.