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Use of pacifiers during sleep has been associated with reduced risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). To quantify this association, investigators in Virginia conducted a meta-analysis of data from seven case-control studies that involved 1663 infants who had died from SIDS and 5373 control infants.
In multivariate analysis of data from four studies that controlled for various confounding factors, usual pacifier use was associated with significantly reduced risk for SIDS (summary odds ratio, 0.71). Also, in analysis of data from all seven studies, pacifier use during the last reference sleep was associated with significantly reduced risk for SIDS (OR, 0.39). The authors estimate that pacifier use could prevent 1 SIDS death for every 27…