Kumulativní efekt sociálních rizikových faktorů u kojenců zemřelých udušením

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the report is to determine the risk factors of mothers whose infant died of suffocation before reaching the 1st year of age. Methods: The research method of choice was a retrospective content analysis of autopsy reports from medical and forensic autopsies of infants under 1 year of age. Each autopsy report was conceived as a case study. The research sample included the autopsy reports of children where the immediate cause and mechanism of death was suffocation – both of internal and external reasons (n=11). The social risk factors of mothers were identified based on the mechanism and circumstances of their infant’s death. The only case where the expert opinion allowed for SIDS became the verifying unit of the analysis of other cases in the case study series. Results: The qualitative analysis of the whole series showed that the cases may be sorted in two basic categories. The first one included the cases where the infant’s death had a direct cause (n=6); in these cases, the clearly violent death was directly connected – with respect to the cause and time – with the hostile actions of another person. The other category included cases of neglect and other types of conduct (n=5). These cases were further divided into actions under the influence of drugs and insufficient care. Conclusion: The results confirmed the importance of social risks of mothers (SES, accommodation, social exclu-sion, family relations, health literacy of the mothers). The analysis of the autopsy reports revealed the social fea-ture of the cases of infant death by suffocation, which is the cumulative effect of the difficult life situation of the mothers combined with their low level of health literacy. © 2020, Czech Medical Association J.E. Purkyne. All rights reserved.