The prevalence and characteristics associated with mother-infant bed-sharing in Klang district, Malaysia.
This was a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and characteristics of mother-infant bed-sharing practice in Klang district, Malaysia. Data was collected by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire for a four month period in 2006. A total of 682 mother-infant pairs attending government health clinics were included in the study. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers, information on the infants, bed-sharing and breastfeeding practices were collected. The mean maternal age was 28.4 +/- 5.1 years while the mean infant gestational age was 38.8 +/- 1.8 weeks. The study showed the prevalence of bed-sharing was 73.5% (95% CI: 70.0, 76.7). In multivariate analysis; area of interview, maternal occupation, family income, breastfeeding and infant birth weight were associated with bed-sharing after adjusted for maternal ethnicity, age, marital status, educational level, parity, infant gender and infant gestational age. In conclusion, bed-sharing is a common practice in Klang district, Malaysia, not specific to ethnicity, but strongly associated with low family income and breastfeeding.
Department of Community Medicine, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. kokleong_tan@imu.edu.my
K L
KL
Tan
S N
SN
Ghani
F M
FM
Moy
D000328:Adult; D001513:Beds; D001724:Birth Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008296:Malaysia; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence