The contribution of prone sleeping position to the racial disparity in sudden infant death syndrome: the Chicago Infant Mortality Study

Abstract

Background: Rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are over twice as high among African Americans compared with Caucasians. Little is known, however, about the relationship between prone sleeping, other sleep environment factors, and the risk of SIDS in the United States and how differences in risk factors may account for disparities in mortality.

Objective: To assess the contribution of prone sleeping position and other potential risk factors to SIDS risk in a primarily high-risk, urban African American population.

Design, setting, and population: Case-control study consisting of 260 infants ages birth to 1 year who died of SIDS between November 1993 and April 1996. The control group consists of an equal number of infants matched on race, age, and birth weight. Prospectively collected data from the death scene investigation and a follow-up home interview for case infants were compared with equivalent questions for living control participants to identify risk factors for SIDS.

Main outcome measures: Risk of SIDS related to prone sleeping position adjusting for potential confounding variables and other risk factors for SIDS, and comparisons by race-ethnicity.

Results: Three quarters of the SIDS infants were African American. There was more than a twofold increased risk of SIDS associated with being placed prone for last sleep compared with the nonprone positions (odds ratio [OR]: 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6-3.7). This OR increased after adjusting for potential confounding variables and other sleep environment factors (OR: 4.0; 95% CI: 1.8-8.8). Differences were found for African Americans compared with others (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.6 and OR: 10.3, 95% CI: 10.3 [3.2-33.8, respectively]). The population attributable risk was 31%. Fewer case mothers (46%) than control mothers (64%) reported being advised about sleep position in the hospital after delivery. Of those advised, a similar proportion of case mothers as control mothers were incorrectly told or recalled being told to use the prone position, but prone was recommended in a higher proportion of black mothers (cases and controls combined) compared with nonblack mothers.

Conclusions: Prone sleeping was found to be a significant risk factor for SIDS in this primarily African American urban sample, and approximately one third of the SIDS deaths could be attributed to this factor. Greater and more effective educational outreach must be extended to African American families and the health personnel serving them to reduce prone prevalence during sleep, which appears, in part, to contribute to the higher rates of SIDS among African American infants.