Economic antecedents of sudden infant death syndrome

PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that labor market contraction is associated with an elevated number of deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). METHODS: We apply time-series methods to monthly counts of SIDS deaths and total employment from the state of California beginning January 1989 and ending December 2001. The methods control for trends, seasonal cycles, and other forms of autocorrelation that could induce spurious associations. RESULTS: Decreases in the number of employed persons in California preceded higher than expected monthly values of SIDS cases among black, non-Hispanic White and Hispanic infants. In addition, Blacks and Hispanics appear to respond more strongly than non-Hispanic Whites to economic contraction. CONCLUSIONS: We infer support for the hypothesis that economic contraction may inhibit salutary behavior related to SIDS. We discuss various mechanisms through which the economy may affect SIDS and recommend further investigation.