CLOTHING AND BEDDING AND ITS RELEVANCE TO SUDDEN-INFANT-DEATH-SYNDROME - FURTHER RESULTS FROM THE NEW-ZEALAND COT DEATH STUDY

As part of a large nationwide case-control study covering a region wit h 78% of all births in New Zealand during 1987-90, the clothing and be dding of infants dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and that of an appropriate control group were recorded. Cases consisted of 81% (n = 393) of all cases of SIDS in the study area and 88.4% (n = 1592) of 1800 control infants randomly selected from the hospital births an d who completed a home interview. Use of a wool 'waterproof' underblan ket was associated with a significantly reduced risk of SIDS (adjusted OR 0.44; 95% Cl: 0.26-0.73) while sheepskin use was not. Firm tucking was identified as contributing to a reduced risk of SIDS even after a djusting for potentially confounding variables (adjusted OR 0.63, 95% Cl: 0.46-0.86). Sixty case infants (15.6% of cases) were found dead wi th the head covered but there were no equivalent data for controls. Ha ving been found previously completely covered by bedding was equally c ommon in cases and controls (28.8% cases and 30.6% of control infants) . Other differences of bedding and clothing between cases and controls were small; mattress characteristics were not studied. The exact meth ods in which babies are cared for are important and this study suggest s that infants are at lower risk of SIDS when firmly tucked in and whe n sleeping on a 'waterproof' wool underblanket.