Why is sudden infant death syndrome more common at weekends?
a Department of Preventive and Social
Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Box 913, Dunedin, New
Zealand, b Department of Paediatrics,
University of Auckland, c Department of
Epidemiology, University of Auckland, d Members of the New Zealand National Cot Death
Study Group are: R P K Ford (Christchurch), I B Hassall
(Auckland), A W Stewart (Auckland), E M Allen (Thames), D M O
Becroft (Auckland), B J Taylor (Dunedin), J Thompson
(Auckland).
Correspondence to: Ms Williams.
Accepted 7 July 1997
OBJECTIVES
To determine whether the prevalence of
known risk factors and the magnitude of their association with sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS) differed between weekends and weekdays.
METHODA large nationwide case-control study,
comparing interview data for 393 cases with 1591 controls.
RESULTSSudden infant death syndrome occurred
more often at weekends, more deaths occurring on Sunday than on any
other day of the week. Significant interaction effects were found
between weekends and sharing a room with an adult and the parents going
to a party. After adjustment for confounders, room sharing was less
protective at the weekends (odds ratio (OR) = 0.66, 95% confidence
interval (CI) 0.43 to 1.03) than it was on weekdays (OR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.57) using not room sharing and weekdays as the reference group. Although the likelihood of SIDS after a party was higher at
weekends (OR = 2.47, 95% CI 1.11 to 5.47) than on weekdays (OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.21 to 1.37), few cases were reported. Being Maori (OR = 3.35, 95% CI 1.75 to 6.43) or the child of an unmarried mother (OR = 3.91, 95% CI 2.20 to 6.92) were risk factors for SIDS occurring on Sundays.
CONCLUSIONSThe increase in SIDS at weekends may
be explained in part by the lesser protective effect of sharing a
bedroom with an adult at that time. It may also be related to social
activities that occur at weekends.
© 1997 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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