Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 3;6(1):e2252724.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.52724.

Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Among Siblings of Children Who Died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Denmark

Charlotte Glinge  1   2 , Sára Rossetti  1 , Louise Bruun Oestergaard  3   4 , Niels Kjær Stampe  1 , Thomas Hadberg Lynge  1 , Regitze Skals  4 , Bo Gregers Winkel  1 , Elisabeth M Lodder  2 , Connie R Bezzina  2 , Gunnar Gislason  3   5 , Jytte Banner  6 , Elijah R Behr  7   8   9 , Christian Torp-Pedersen  4   10   11 , Reza Jabbari  1 , Jacob Tfelt-Hansen  1   6
Affiliations

Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Among Siblings of Children Who Died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Denmark

Charlotte Glinge et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Abstract

Importance: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains a leading cause of death during the first year of life. The etiology of SIDS is complex and remains largely unknown.

Objective: To evaluate whether siblings of children who died of SIDS have a higher risk of SIDS compared with the general pediatric population.

Design, setting, and participants: This register-based cohort study used Danish nationwide registers. Participants were all infants (<1 year) in Denmark between January 1, 1978, and December 31, 2016, including siblings of children who died of SIDS. Siblings were followed up from the index cases' date of SIDS, date of birth, or immigration, whichever came first, and until age 1 year, emigration, developing SIDS, death, or study end. The median (IQR) follow-up was 1 (1-1) year. Data analysis was conducted from January 2017 to October 2022.

Main outcomes and measures: Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of SIDS were calculated with Poisson regression models relative to the general population.

Results: In a population of 2 666 834 consecutive births (1 395 199 [52%] male), 1540 infants died of SIDS (median [IQR] age at SIDS, 3 [2-4] months) during a 39-year study period. A total of 2384 younger siblings (cases) to index cases (first sibling with SIDS) were identified. A higher rate of SIDS was observed among siblings compared with the general population, with SIRs of 4.27 (95% CI, 2.13-8.53) after adjustment for sex, age, and calendar year and of 3.50 (95% CI, 1.75-7.01) after further adjustment for mother's age (<29 years vs ≥29 years) and education (high school vs after high school).

Conclusions and relevance: In this nationwide study, having a sibling who died of SIDS was associated with a 4-fold higher risk of SIDS compared with the general population. Shared genetic and/or environmental factors may contribute to the observed clustering of SIDS. The family history of SIDS should be considered when assessing SIDS risk in clinical settings. A multidisciplinary genetic evaluation of families with SIDS could provide additional evidence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Behr reported receiving personal fees from Boston Scientific outside the submitted work. Dr Torp-Pedersen reported receiving grants from Bayer and Novo Nordisk outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Flowchart Illustrating the Selection of the Sibling Cohort, Which Comprised Siblings to Infants With Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Between 1978 and 2016
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Matthews TJ, MacDorman MF, Thoma ME. Infant mortality statistics from the 2013 period linked birth/infant death data set. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2015;64(9):1-30. - PubMed
    1. Hakeem GF, Oddy L, Holcroft CA, Abenhaim HA. Incidence and determinants of sudden infant death syndrome: a population-based study on 37 million births. World J Pediatr. 2015;11(1):41-47. doi: 10.1007/s12519-014-0530-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Winkel BG, Holst AG, Theilade J, et al. Sudden unexpected death in infancy in Denmark. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2011;45(1):14-20. doi: 10.3109/14017431.2010.538433 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Krous HF, Beckwith JB, Byard RW, et al. Sudden infant death syndrome and unclassified sudden infant deaths: a definitional and diagnostic approach. Pediatrics. 2004;114(1):234-238. doi: 10.1542/peds.114.1.234 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baruteau AE, Tester DJ, Kapplinger JD, Ackerman MJ, Behr ER. Sudden infant death syndrome and inherited cardiac conditions. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2017;14(12):715-726. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2017.129 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types