Risk for SIDS Increased for Infants With Sibling Who Died of SIDS

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is increased for infants with a sibling who died of SIDS, according to a study published online Jan. 25 in JAMA Network Open.

Charlotte Glinge, M.D., Ph.D., from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues examined whether siblings of children who died of SIDS have a higher risk for SIDS than the general pediatric population in a register-based cohort study involving all infants in Denmark between Jan. 1, 1978, and Dec. 31, 2016.

During a 39-year study period, 1,540 infants died of SIDS in a population of 2,666,834 consecutive births. Overall, 2,384 younger siblings to index cases with SIDS were identified. The researchers found that the rate of SIDS was higher among siblings than the general population, with standardized incidence ratios of 4.27 and 3.50 after adjustment for sex, age, and calendar year and after further adjustment for mother’s age (younger than 29 years versus 29 years or older) and education (high school versus after high school), respectively.

“Despite ongoing research on the genetic causes of SIDS, there are no definitive answers yet; therefore, we recommend that parents follow the public health guidelines and that clinicians consider the family history of SIDS when assessing SIDS risk and when implementing preventive interventions,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk; the Novo Nordisk Foundation partially funded the study.