ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Sudden Unexplained Death Syndrome (SUDS) is the major cause ofsudden death in Thai adults, especially Thai migrant workers in Singapore and Taiwan. Temporal variations of sudden death of Thai people abroad are not well known. OBJECTIVE: To study the month, day and time of death of presumptive sudden death (PSD) in Singapore, Taiwan. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The authors reviewed the death certificates of Thai people who died in Singapore and Taiwan and previously SUDS reported cases form Singapore. The time, day and month ofPSD and Non-PSD deaths in Singapore and Taiwan were compared. RESULTS: From January 1994 to January 1995, 46 SUDS died in Singapore (gr A), from May 2000 to August 2002, 39 PSD died in Singapore (gr B), from January 1999 to May 2002, 100 presumptive or probable sudden unexplained death syndrome (PSUDS) died in Taiwan (gr C) and 254 Non-PSD death aboard (gr D) as controls. The annual SUDS/PSD death rates (per 100,000) in Singapore were 91.1 in 1994, 30.7 in 2001 and 33.5 in Taiwan in 2000. All but two SUDS/PSD cases were male. The mean age in gr A + B and C were 34.9 + 7.5 and 33.1 +/- 6.0 years old respectively. In gr. A, B and C, compared with gr D, Tuesday was the weekday of lowest SUDS/PSD death rate and Saturday was the highest. (p < 0.05). Time of death in gr B and C were peak during midnight to 8 a.m. and there was some trend of seasonal variation in occurrence of SUDS/PSD with the peak death rate in April and trough death rate in September; which is significantly different from gr D (1.49% vs 10.89% of all deaths, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The presented data demonstrate some temporal variations in SUDS/PSD death aboard. The sudden death of Thai people in Singapore and Taiwan may be more prevalent in the "work-to-rest" than "rest-to-work" periods.