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Seasonal differences in risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome
Author(s) -
Mitchell EA,
Clements M,
Williams SM,
Stewart AW,
Cheng A,
Ford RPK
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1999.tb01092.x
Subject(s) - medicine , sudden infant death syndrome , risk factor , sudden death , prone position , pediatrics , demography , anesthesia , sociology
The aim of this study was to explore whether the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) associated with prone sleeping position and other risk factors varies with season. The study was a large nation‐wide case‐control study, which compared 485 cases with 1800 controls. Parents of 393 (81.0%) cases and 1591 (88.4%) controls were interviewed. Obstetric records were also examined. Infants dying in winter were older and had lower birthweights than those dying in summer. The increased risk of SIDS associated with prone sleeping position was greater in winter than in summer. In contrast, the increased risk of SIDS associated with excess thermal insulation and bed sharing was less in winter than in summer. Prone sleeping position accounts for about half of the difference between the mortality rate in summer and that in winter. This suggests that some factor related to season modifies the effect of prone sleeping position.