Most Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths Occur on Shared Surfaces
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Feb. 20, 2024 -- Almost 60 percent of sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) occur on shared sleep surfaces, according to a study published online Feb. 20 in Pediatrics.
Alexa B. Erck Lambert, M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues identified SUID among residents of 23 U.S. jurisdictions who died from 2011 to 2020. The frequencies and percentages of demographic, sleep environment, and other characteristics were examined by sleep surface sharing status.
The researchers found that 59.5 percent of the 7,595 SUID cases were sharing a sleep surface when they died. Sharing infants were more often aged 0 to 3 months, non-Hispanic Black, publicly insured, found supine, and found in an adult bed or chair/couch. These infants also had a higher number of unsafe sleep factors, were more often exposed to maternal smoking prenatally, were unsupervised by a parent at the time of death, or had a supervisor who was impaired by drugs or alcohol. Multiple unsafe sleep factors were present for at least 76 percent of all SUID. Of the surface-sharing SUID, 68.2, 75.9, and 51.6 percent were sharing with adults only, in an adult bed, and with one other person, respectively.
"Our findings support comprehensive safe sleep counseling for every family at every encounter beyond just asking where an infant is sleeping," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted February 2024
Read this next
Active Surveillance Effective Strategy for Favorable-Risk Prostate Cancer
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- Active surveillance is an effective management strategy for men with favorable-risk prostate cancer, with an estimated rate of metastasis of 1.4 percent at...
BMI Cutoff of 30 for Obesity May Be Too High for Middle-Aged, Older Adults
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- The optimal body mass index (BMI) cutoff point appears to be 27 kg/m2 for detecting obesity in middle-aged and older adults, according to a study presented...
Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.