Economic antecedents of sudden infant death syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that labor market contraction is associated with an elevated number of deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).


METHODS
We apply time-series methods to monthly counts of SIDS deaths and total employment from the state of California beginning January 1989 and ending December 2001. The methods control for trends, seasonal cycles, and other forms of autocorrelation that could induce spurious associations.


RESULTS
Decreases in the number of employed persons in California preceded higher than expected monthly values of SIDS cases among black, non-Hispanic White and Hispanic infants. In addition, Blacks and Hispanics appear to respond more strongly than non-Hispanic Whites to economic contraction.


CONCLUSIONS
We infer support for the hypothesis that economic contraction may inhibit salutary behavior related to SIDS. We discuss various mechanisms through which the economy may affect SIDS and recommend further investigation.
Bruckner
Tim
T
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, 322 Warren Hall, Box 7360, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. brucknet@berkeley.edu
Catalano
Ralph A
RA
D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014478:Unemployment / Q000639:trends*