International Child Care Practices Study: infant sleeping environment.

BACKGROUND: The International Child Care Practices Study (ICCPS) has collected descriptive data from 21 centres in 17 countries. In this report, data are presented on the infant sleeping environment with the main focus being sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) risk factors (bedsharing and infant using a pillow) and protective factors (infant sharing a room with adult) that are not yet well established in the literature. METHODS: Using a standardised protocol, parents of infants were surveyed at birth by interview and at 3 months of age mainly by postal questionnaire. Centres were grouped according to geographic location. Also indicated was the level of SIDS awareness in the community, i.e. whether any campaigns or messages to "reduce the risks of SIDS" were available at the time of the survey. RESULTS: Birth interview data were available for 5488 individual families and 4656 (85%) returned questionnaires at 3 months. Rates of bedsharing varied considerably (2-88%) and it appeared to be more common in the samples with a lower awareness of SIDS, but not necessarily a high SIDS rate. Countries with higher rates of bedsharing appeared to have a greater proportion of infants bedsharing for a longer duration (>5 h). Rates of room sharing varied (58-100%) with some of the lowest rates noted in centres with a higher awareness of SIDS. Rates of pillow use ranged from 4% to 95%. CONCLUSIONS: It is likely that methods of bedsharing differ cross-culturally, and although further details were sought on different bedsharing practices, it was not possible to build up a composite picture of "typical" bedsharing practices in these different communities. These data highlight interesting patterns in child care in these diverse populations. Although these results should not be used to imply that any particular child care practice either increases or decreases the risk of SIDS, these findings should help to inject caution into the process of developing SIDS prevention campaigns for non-Western cultures.

Changes in the epidemiology of sudden infant death syndrome in Sweden 1973-1996.

BACKGROUND: From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, there was a significant rise in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Scandinavia. Following the risk reducing campaign, the incidence has fallen to about the same level as in 1973. AIMS: To identify the changes that have occurred in the epidemiology of SIDS. METHODS: We compared the Swedish part of the Nordic Epidemiological SIDS Study (NESS), covering the years 1992-1995, with two earlier, descriptive studies during this period. To assess the changing effects of risk factors, we analysed data from the Medical Birth Registry of Sweden, covering the years 1973-1996. RESULTS: There was a predominance of deaths during weekends in the 1970s and 1990s. The seasonal variation was most notable in the 1980s. The proportion of young mothers decreased from 14% to 5%. Cohabitation (living with the biological father) was as frequent in the 1990s as in the 1970s. The prevalence of high parity, admissions to neonatal wards, low birth weight, prematurity, and multiple pregnancies were all increased in the 1990s compared to the 1970s. No significant change in the prevalence of previous apparent life threatening events was found. Deaths occurring in cars diminished from 10% to below 2%. In the data from the Medical Birth Registry of Sweden, there were significantly increased odds ratios after the risk reducing campaign of the risk factors smoking during early pregnancy and preterm birth. We could find no increased effects of maternal age, parity, or being small for gestational age over time. The rate of deaths at weekends remained increased; the median age at death fell from 90 to 60 days. Seasonal variation was less notable in the periods of low incidence.

The decline in the incidence of SIDS in Scandinavia and its relation to risk-intervention campaigns. Nordic Epidemiological SIDS Study.

A prospective case-control study of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Norway, Denmark and Sweden between September 1, 1992 and August 31, 1995 comprised 244 cases and 869 matched controls. After the introduction of risk-intervention campaigns, the SIDS incidence decreased from 2.3/1000 live births in Norway, 1.6 in Denmark and 1.0 in Sweden to 0.6/1000 or fewer in all the Scandinavian countries in 1995. The decrease paralleled a decline in the prone sleeping position and there was an accompanying parallel fall in total postneonatal mortality in all three countries. Thus, the risk-reducing campaigns for SIDS have been successful not only in Norway and Denmark, starting from relatively high incidences, but also in Sweden, starting from a low incidence. During the study period, a gradual increase was observed for the effects of prone sleeping, smoking and bottle-feeding as risk factors for SIDS.