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The epidemiology of sudden infant death syndrome

FSID Unit of Perinatal and Paediatic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Muspratt Laboratory, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr P O Pharoah, FSID Unit of Perinatal and Paediatic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Muspratt Laboratory, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK;
p.o.d.pharoah{at}liv.ac.uk

Background: Twins compared to singletons are at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Aims: To compare the epidemiology of SIDS in twins and singletons and to test the hypothesis that monozygous (MZ) were at greater risk of SIDS than dizygous (DZ) twins.

Methods: Data from the Office for National Statistics on all registered live births and infant deaths with registered cause of death "sudden unexpected death in infancy" in England and Wales from 1993 to 1998 were obtained, together with the registered birth weight and, for twins, whether they were of like or unlike sex.

Results: The crude relative risk of SIDS in twins is twice that in singletons. There has been a significant temporal decline in SIDS mortality. There is also a significant increase in risk with decreasing birth weight for both twins and singletons. The birth weight specific risk of SIDS in all except for those 3000 g is greater in singletons than in twins. There is no significant difference in risk of SIDS in like compared with unlike sex twins.

Conclusions: In spite of a lower risk of SIDS in twins compared with singletons for each birth weight group <3000 g, one component of the higher crude relative risk of SIDS in twins is attributable to the higher proportion of twins that are of low birth weight. A second component is the higher risk in twins compared with singletons for those of birth weight 3000 g. Like sex are at no greater risk than unlike sex twins, which suggests that zygosity is not a significant factor in SIDS.

Keywords: SIDS, twins

Abbreviations: DZ, dizygous; MZ, monozygous; ONS, Office for National Statistics; SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome

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