Smoking and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Overview

Journal Pediatrics

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 1993 May 1

PMID 8474808

Citations 62

Authors

E A Mitchell

R P Ford

A W Stewart

B J Taylor

D M BECROFT

J M Thompson

R Scragg

I B Hassall

D M Barry

E M Allen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Maternal smoking has been shown to be a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The effect of smoking by the father and other household members has not previously been examined.

Methods: A large nationwide case-control study. Four hundred eighty-five SIDS deaths in the postneonatal age group were compared with 1800 control infants.

Results: Infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy had a 4.09 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.28, 5.11) greater risk of death than infants of mothers who did not smoke. Infants of mothers who smoked postnatally also had an increased risk of SIDS compared with infants of nonsmokers and, furthermore, the risk increased with increasing levels of maternal smoking. Smoking by the father and other household members increased the risk (odds ratio [OR] = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.92, 3.02 and OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.20, 1.99, respectively). Smoking by the father increased the risk of SIDS if the mother smoked, but had no effect if she did not smoke. In analyses controlled for a wide range of potential confounders, smoking by the mother and father was still significantly associated with an increased risk of SIDS.

Conclusion: Passive tobacco smoking is causally related to SIDS.

Citing Articles

New Step in Understanding the Pathogenetic Mechanism of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Involvement of the Pontine Reticular Gigantocellular Nucleus.

Lavezzi A, Mehboob R, Piscioli F, Pusiol T Int J Mol Sci. 2024; 25(13).

PMID: 39000030 PMC: 11241803. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25136920.

A study of Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island Māori, and Niuean infant care practices in the Growing Up in New Zealand study.

Langridge F, Paynter J, Ghebreab L, Heather M, Matenga-Ikihele A, Percival T BMC Public Health. 2024; 24(1):166.

PMID: 38216915 PMC: 10785414. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17680-1.

Involvement of the Superior Colliculus in SIDS Pathogenesis.

Lavezzi A, Mehboob R, Piscioli F, Pusiol T Biomedicines. 2023; 11(6).

PMID: 37371784 PMC: 10295940. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11061689.

Qualitative assessment of infant sleep practices and other risk factors of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) among mothers in Lusaka, Zambia.

Osei-Poku G, Mwananyanda L, Elliott P, MacLeod W, Wa Somwe S, Pieciak R BMC Pediatr. 2023; 23(1):245.

PMID: 37202764 PMC: 10193804. DOI: 10.1186/s12887-023-04051-9.

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

Glinge C, Rossetti S, Oestergaard L, Stampe N, Lynge T, Skals R JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(1):e2252724.

PMID: 36696110 PMC: 10187488. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.52724.