Sudden infant death syndrome in aboriginal and non-aboriginal infants.

This study, based on routinely recorded data, was designed to compare the epidemiology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants in Western Australia (WA). All cases of SIDS occurring in infants born in WA from 1980 to 1988 were included in the study. There were 66 Aboriginal (6.1 per 1000 live births) and 337 non-Aboriginal (1.7 per 1000 live births) infants who died from SIDS. It was found that there was a significant linear increase in the Aboriginal SIDS rate over the study period while the non-Aboriginal rate remained relatively constant. For non-Aboriginal infants, there was an elevated risk of SIDS for young maternal age, single marital status and male gender but this was not found for Aboriginal infants. There was a significant difference in the age at death distribution for the two populations. Low birthweight and preterm birth were risk factors for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants. There may be differences in the aetiology and/or classification of SIDS between the two populations.