|
 The SIDS rate for all of Colorado is about 4.2 cases per 10,000 live
births, but among infants living above 8,000 feet, it’s 7.9 per
10,000, the study found.
SIDS occurs in babies less than a year old. The deaths can’t be
explained after an investigation and autopsy.
“We hope that this study will make families residing at high
altitude, and the physicians counseling them, increasingly vigilant
about the known risk factors for SIDS in order to minimize risk,”
lead study author Dr. David Katz, a researcher at the University of
Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, said by email.
Nationwide, SIDS kills about 4 babies out of every 10,000 live
births and is a leading cause of death in infants, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
To understand how altitude may impact the risk of SIDS, Katz and
colleagues reviewed data for about 393,000 babies born in Colorado
from 2007 to 2012, as well as death records from that period.
Overall, 79.6% of the babies lived at altitudes below 6,000 feet,
and 18.5% resided at 6,000 to 8,000 feet. Just 1.9% lived above
8,000 feet.
Compared with babies living at the lower altitudes, infants living
above 8,000 feet had a 2.3 times greater risk of SIDS, the study
found.
To minimize the risk of SIDS, pediatricians urge parents to put
babies to sleep on their backs in cribs without pillows, blankets,
or soft objects. Public health officials have promoted these
practices as part of a campaign called “Back to Sleep.”
Researchers also reviewed another set of records from 1990 to 2012
to assess the impact of Back to Sleep campaigns started in the
mid-90s.
From 1990 to 1993, before Back to Sleep, there were about 20
incidents of SIDS for every 10,000 live births. From 1997 to 2012,
that dropped to 5.7 per 10,000.
There wasn’t a significant difference among SIDS cases at different
altitudes of birth or residence over those decades, suggesting that
the Back to Sleep campaign was equally effective across all
altitudes in Colorado.
Because the lowest point in Colorado is more than 3,000 feet above
sea level, the study doesn’t assess whether SIDS rates differ at
even lower altitudes, just as it doesn’t include data from extremely
high elevations, the researchers note May 25 in the journal
Pediatrics. They also relied on the altitude associated with the
mother’s residence at the time of birth, which might not be where
the baby lived.
[to top of second column] |
"Although relatively few people in the U.S. reside at high
altitudes, more than 63 million people worldwide live above 8,000
feet, the researchers note."
While the study doesn’t show living at higher altitudes causes SIDS,
it’s possible that less oxygen in the air might lead to hypoxia,
Katz said.
“Hypoxia is a plausible linking causal factor, and has been
demonstrated in infants residing at high altitude,” he said, adding
that more research is needed to better understand SIDS.
Regardless of altitude, all families should always follow safe sleep
recommendations for infants, which can minimize the risk of SIDS and
also prevent accidental injury and deaths from suffocation or
strangulation, said Dr. Michael Goodstein, a pediatrics researcher
at Pennsylvania State University and director of the York County
Cribs for Kids program.
“Do not panic if you live at high altitude,” Goodstein said by
email. Take extra care, he said, to avoid risk factors such as soft
bedding and letting kids sleep face down, and instead, promote
behaviors with a protective effect, such as back sleeping and
breastfeeding.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1AtJYUk
Pediatrics 2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
