Archives of Disease in Childhood 2006;91:324-326
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) due to an active health monitoring system 20 years prior to the public "Back to Sleep" campaigns
1 Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Germany
2 Walter-Rathenaustr. 19, 39245 Gommern, Germany
3 Children’s Hospital, University of Magdeburg, Germany
4 Institute for Legal Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Correspondence to:
M Vennemann
Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Germany; vennemam{at}uni-muenster.de
Background: Before reunification, the post-neonatal mortality rate was lower in East Germany than in West Germany. Moreover, the incidence of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) was much lower in the East.
Methods: Mortality data on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) from West and East Germany since 1980 as well as post-neonatal mortality data for both states since 1970 were examined. 95% Confidence intervals were calculated for the rates. Witnesses from the former East Germany who were involved at the time were also interviewed and archives were searched.
Results: We found that as early as 1972 active monitoring of infant and child mortality rates in East Germany had shown that the prone sleeping position was dangerous for infants: the post-neonatal mortality rate was approximately 1 per 1000 live births lower in East than in West Germany during the 20 years before reunification. In contrast, in the West, prone sleeping was only discovered to be a risk factor for SIDS in the early 1990s.
Conclusions: Active monitoring is an effective tool in the early detection of risk factors and serves to prevent unnecessary deaths.
Keywords: active monitoring; Germany; prevention; SIDS; sudden infant death syndrome
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Arch. Dis. Child. 2006 91: e283.
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