Home apnea monitors—when to discontinue use
Premature newborns are frequently discharged with a home apnea monitor. The following guidance can help you to counsel parents in 3 common scenarios.
The etiology of SIDS is unclear.31 The leading hypothesis is the “triple-risk model,” which proposes that death from SIDS is due to 3 overlapping factors: a vulnerable infant, a critical developmental period in homeostatic control, and an exogenous stressor.32
Although the NIH Consensus Statement suggests home apnea monitoring is indicated for infants who are siblings of 2 or more SIDS victims,2 more recent policy statements from the AAP recommend against using home apnea monitors to reduce the incidence of SIDS due to a lack of evidence.3,8
With this in mind, Stephen’s monitor should be discontinued and his parents should be educated on proven methods of preventing SIDS, including placing him on his back to sleep, breastfeeding him, letting him use a pacifier during sleep, and not sleeping in the same bed with him or overdressing him when putting him to sleep.3,8
CORRESPONDENCE
Allen Perkins, MD, MPH, Department of Family Medicine, University of South Alabama, 1504 Springhill Avenue, Suite 3414, Mobile, AL 36604; perkins@health.southalabama.edu.
