Data and Statistics

  

 

Breakdown of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death by Cause, 2015

 

 

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Compressed Mortality File.

This chart shows the breakdown of sudden unexpected infant deaths by cause in 2015. 43% of cases were categorized as sudden infant death syndrome, followed by unknown cause (32%), and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (25%).

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Trends in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death by Cause, 1990-2015

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Compressed Mortality File.

This graph shows the trends in sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) rates in the United States from 1990 through 2015.

• In 1990, the SUID rate, which includes sudden infant death syndrome, unknown cause, and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, was 154.6 deaths per 100,000 live births. The SUID rate declined considerably following the release of the American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations in 1992, the initiation of the Back to Sleep campaign in 1994, and the release of the Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation Reporting Form in 1996. The SUID rate decreased again slightly beginning in 2009. However, the SUID rate increased slightly from 87.5 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014 to 92.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates declined considerably from 130.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 39.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.
• Unknown cause infant mortality rates remained unchanged from 1990 until 1998, when rates began to increase. In 2015, the unknown cause mortality rate in infants was 30.1 deaths per 100,000 live births.
• Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB) mortality rates remained unchanged until the late 1990s. Rates started to increase beginning in 1997 and reached the highest rate at 23.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.
• Codes for cause of death were defined according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for 1984-1998, and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 1999-2015. We defined cause of death by using the following underlying cause of death ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes: ASSB (E913.0; W75), SIDS (798.0; R95), and unknown cause, (799.9; R99). The SUID rate was the combination of ASSB, SIDS, and unknown cause deaths.

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Sudden Unexpected Infant Death by Race/Ethnicity, 2011-2014

 

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Period Linked Birth/Infant
Death Data.

This stacked bar chart shows sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) rates by cause (sudden infant death syndrome, unknown cause, and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed) and by race/ethnicity in the United States from 2011 through 2014.

• SUID rates per 100,000 live births for American Indian/Alaska Native (194.1) and non-Hispanic black infants (170.2) were more than twice those of non-Hispanic white infants (83.8). SUID rates per 100,000 live births were lowest among Hispanic (51.1) and Asian/Pacific Islander infants (32.7).
• Deaths due to SIDS accounted for the largest proportion of SUIDs for all racial/ethnic groups, ranging from 44% of SUID among non-Hispanic black infants to 52% of SUID among Asian/Pacific Islander infants.
• Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed accounted for the smallest proportion of SUIDs for all racial groups, ranging from 18% of SUID among American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander infants to 25% of SUID among non-Hispanic black infants.

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