A data-analytics framework for exploring regression associations in multivariate categorical data of firefighters' PTSD.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden death of an infant aged under one year without established cause after thorough investigation, including review of clinical history, circumstances of death, and performance of complete autopsy []. A recent postmortem surveillance study conducted in Zambia found that 7.4% of infant deaths in the community were due to sudden unexplained infant death (SUID), with nearly 5.4% attributed to apparent SIDS []. However, the prevalence of bed-sharing and prone or side sleeping positions, known risk factors for SIDS, is poorly understood in Zambia due to an apparent lack of research interest. Deaths classified as SUID include SIDS and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed. As a complex phenomenon, SIDS is characterised by multiple interacting risk factors. The triple risk hypothesis suggests that SIDS occurs in infants who have an underlying biological vulnerability and are exposed to an external threat during a critical developmental period. Numerous risk factors for SIDS are well documented globally, including low birth weight, male gender, young maternal age, and multiparity []. However, research on the prevalence of these non-modifiable risk factors in Zambia is limited to a single cross-sectional survey []. Additionally, several modifiable factors have been associated with a higher risk of SIDS, such as prone sleeping positions, bed-sharing, maternal smoking, and parental alcohol consumption []. In a recent qualitative study, Osei-Poku [] found that mothers viewed their baby's supine sleeping position as a choking hazard. They also preferred to bedshare with their infants for the convenience of breastfeeding and monitoring the baby. Debate persists regarding the potential benefits and risks of shared sleeping practices in relation to SIDS, and there has been little effort to examine the prevalence of these practices in the Zambian context. Moreover, while a myriad of protective factors, including breastfeeding, pacifier use, and immunisation, have been associated with SIDS globally [], no study in Zambia has comprehensively investigated them, partly due to the sluggish uptake and patchy nature of the investigative process surrounding SIDS in Zambia. We aim to build upon Osei-Poku’s cross-sectional study [] by incorporating longitudinal and cross-sectional survey data, thereby mitigating some of the limitations of his earlier work.