Table 1

A comparison of frequencies of certain features (identified by the Meadow study) in Irish SIDS (1994–1997) versus the Meadow cases

Features identified to help differentiate between natural and unnatural deaths	SIDS		1994–1997		Meadow		cases
	%		No		%		No
No previous live child	26		39/150		72		36/50
Death of a previous child	5		6/126		48		24/50
Died in 1st 7 months of life	91		150/165		69		56/81
Time of death 1100–2200	22		27/124		73		55/75
Interval between last seen and found dead (h)
	<2	30		36/121		85		55/65
	2–<6	44		53/121		8		5/65
	6–12	26		32/121		8		5/65
Blood in mouth, nose, face	26		32/122		39		27/70
Previous apnoeic episodes	4		5/125		61		46/75
Previous ALTEs	2		2/125		36		27/75
Previous hospital admissions mainly due to intercurrent illness	11		14/125		56		43/77