Cj. Bacon et al., Case control study of thermal environment preceding haemorrhagic shock encephalopathy syndrome, ARCH DIS CH, 81(2), 1999, pp. 155-158
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the thermal environment
in which babies slept before developing haemorrhagic shock encephalopathy
syndrome (HSES) differed from that of other babies. Data were collected by
standardised interview from parents of 31 babies who had had HSES before th
e age of 7 months and compared with equivalent data for 124 control babies,
with matching for outside temperature on the relevant night and for age. M
ultivariate analysis showed a strong association between HSES and covering
of the baby's head by bedding, the odds ratio being 30.7 (95% confidence in
terval, 2.5 to 384). There were weaker associations with other aspects of t
he thermal environment. This suggests a link between HSES and some cases of
cot death, supports the suggestion that HSES may be caused by overheating,
and reinforces advice that babies should be placed to sleep in such a way
that they are less likely to become totally covered.