Reductions in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Rates Differ by Race/Ethnicity

Although sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) rates fell sharply after the introduction of the Back to Sleep campaign, there continue to be racial/ethnic disparities. Researchers used national infant death data from 1995 to 2013 to evaluate annual SUID rates and secular trends by race/ethnicity. SUID cases included those coded as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed, or other ill-defined or unspecified causes of death.

Between 1995 and 2013, SUID rates fell for all racial/ethnic groups, although reductions were statistically significant only in non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Rates were highest for American Indian/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic blacks throughout, but the gap between these groups and non-Hispanic whites shrank, as the reduction in non-Hispanic whites was relatively small. Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders had the lowest rates, with an increasing advantage over non-Hispanic whites. In 2013, rates for American Indian/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic blacks were over double the rate for non-Hispanic whites, whose rate was, in turn, almost double that of Hispanics and almost triple that of Asian/Pacific Islanders.