Trends in Rates of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID): Hopes for Prevention

Infant deaths that occur unexpectedly during sleep have been attributed over generations to various explanations for this shocking and tragic loss of life. Historically, these deaths have been coded as caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which defied prevention. This paper explores the evolution of understanding SIDS to the current use of the term sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) defined by the Centers for Disease Control as including three causes: SIDS, accidental strangulation and suffocation in bed (ASSB) and unknown. Data presented in this paper demonstrate that with enhanced death scene investigations there has been a shift over the past three decades in how SUIDs are coded. In 1990-4, nationally, 84 percent of post neonatal deaths were attributed to SIDS, 12 percent to unknown, and 3 percent to ASSB. Most current data (2014-18) show that 42 percent are now attributed to SIDS, 34 percent to unknown, and 25 percent to ASSB. While there has been stalled progress in the decrease of SUIDs, the diagnostic shift observed yields promise for the prevention of these deaths with public health measures that educate the public on the hazards of safe sleep for babies.