Variations in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), United States, 1980-1988.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) continues to be the second leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. In 1989, 5,634 SIDS cases were recorded, resulting in a rate of 139.4 per 100,000 live births. While this 1989 rate was less than 1 percent below that in 1988, it was the second lowest of the decade. As with total infant mortality rates, SIDS rates have been slowly declining over the years but remain disproportionately higher among black infants than white. Unlike the total infant death rates, however, the gap between the races is narrowing--SIDS death rates among black infants decreased 19 percent between 1980 and 1988, in contrast to the 4 percent drop among white infants during the same period. The black-to-white ratio dropped from 2.18:1 in 1980 to 1.83:1 in 1988. Geographic differences in SIDS rates persist, with rates being the highest in the West and Midwest regions and lowest in the Northeast. While many SIDS risk factors have been and continue to be identified, the diagnosis remains one of exclusion. The etiology continues to elude definition, and increasingly more diagnoses are being made based on autopsy reports and death scene investigations. As these diagnostic practices become more standardized, SIDS prevalence is expected to change. Whether new insights will ultimately lead to eradication, remains unknown at this time.
D001741:Black or African American; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People