What is SIDS?
Epidemiology
National Statistics
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Vital Statistics System annually releases national data on infant mortality, which includes information on the number of SIDS deaths and rates. NICHD also conducts a household survey that examines a number of different infant care practices such as sleep position, breastfeeding and child care. Chapter 6: Reasearch & Statistics provides a detailed discussion on using statistics to support risk reduction efforts and evaluation of program efforts.
The infant mortality rate in 2002 increased to a rate of 7.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with a rate of 6.8 in 2001.16 Preliminary data for 2003 indicates an infant mortality rate of 6.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is not statistically different from the rate in 2002. Aside from the increase in 2002, which was concentrated among neonates, the U.S. infant mortality rate has decreased or remained level since 1958.17
According to preliminary data from the CDC, there were 28,422 infant deaths in the United States in 2003. Of those deaths, 1,994 were due to SIDS—a 14.7 percent decrease from 2002. The CDC points out that the magnitude of this decrease may be the result of error due to delayed reporting in the preliminary file. For 2002, the preliminary weighted count of SIDS deaths was only 89 percent of the final count.
