Caffeine and alcohol as risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome

Objective-To assess whether alcohol and caffeine are independent risk facto rs for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Materials and methods-Analyses based on data from the Nordic epidemiologica l SIDS study, a case control study in which all parents of SIDS victims in the Nordic countries from 1 September 1992 to 31 August 1995 were invited t o participate with parents of four controls, matched for sex and age at dea th. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by conditional logistic regression an alysis. Results-The crude ORs for caffeine consumption > 800 mg/24 hours both durin g and after pregnancy were significantly raised: 3.9 (95% confidence interv al (CI), 1.9 to 8.1) and 3.1 (95% CI, 1.5 to 6.3), respectively. However, a fter adjustment for maternal smoking in Ist trimester, maternal age, educat ion and parity, no significant effect of caffeine during or after pregnancy remained. For maternal or paternal alcohol use, no significant risk increa se was found after adjusting for social variables, except for heavy postnat al intake of alcohol by the mother, where the risk was significantly increa sed. Conclusions-Caffeine during or after pregnancy was not found to be an indep endent risk factor for SIDS after adjustment for maternal age, education, p arity, and smoking during pregnancy. Heavy postnatal but not prenatal intak e of alcohol by the mother increased the risk.