Maternal responses to home apnea monitoring of infants.

The purpose of this study was to describe types of upset experienced by mothers of infants who received apnea monitoring for 1 to 17 months. A 38-question, semistructured interview was used. Interrater reliability (90%) was established through analysis of 15 videotaped interviews and agreement on content analysis of 74 transcribed interviews. Results are discussed according to nine categories of upset identified by the mothers: (a) fear, (b) lack of credibility, (c) problems with the monitor, (d) disrupted family life, (e) emotional effects, (f) lack of support, (g) concerns for the infant, (h) unresolved problems, and (i) unhelpfulness of health professionals.