title: Bed- and sofa-sharing practices in a UK biethnic population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence and associations of bed- and sofa-sharing in a biethnic UK birth cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 3082 participants in the Born in Bradford birth cohort study by using a telephone interview when infants were aged 2 to 4 months. We asked families about sleep surface sharing behaviors, and other sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI)-related behaviors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 15.5% of families that had ever bed-shared, 7.2% of families regularly bed-shared, and 9.4% of families had ever sofa-shared with their infants; 1.4% reported both. Regular bed-sharers were more commonly Pakistani (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.96-4.66), had further or higher educational qualifications (aOR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.03-2.57), or breastfed for at least 8 weeks (aOR = 3.06, 95% CI 2.00-4.66). The association between breastfeeding and bed-sharing was greater among white British than Pakistani families. Sofa-sharing occurred in association with smoking (aOR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.14-2.80) and breastfeeding for more than 8 weeks (aOR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.19-2.58), and was less likely in Pakistani families (aOR = 0.21, 95% CI 0.14-0.31), or single-parent families (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.29-0.87).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data confirm that bed-sharing and sofa-sharing are distinct practices, which should not be combined in studies of unexpected infant deaths as a single exposure.  The determinants of sleep-surface sharing differ between the UK Pakistani and UK majority communities, and from those of US minority communities.  Caution is needed in generalizing SUDI/SIDS risk factors across populations with differing risk factor profiles, and care should be taken in adopting SUDI/SIDS reduction guidelines from other contexts.
authors.affiliation: Parent-Infant Sleep Laboratory & Medical Anthropology Research Group, Durham University, Durham, UK. H.L.Ball@dur.ac.uk
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moya
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.forename: Janette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Westman
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oddie
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001513:Beds / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012890:Sleep; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006113:United Kingdom