Higher SIDS risk among psychiatric patients

Infants of parents with a history of mental illness or alcohol or drug disorders are at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a Swedish study finds. Of 1,531 SIDS cases from the Swedish National birth cohort, at least one parent had been previously admitted for psychiatric treatment before the birth in more than 11% of all cases. Almost half the patients were admitted for alcohol or drug-related disorders. Parents who were admitted for reasons other than drug or alcohol disorders were twice as likely to have a child die from SIDS and there was a nearly 7-fold increased risk if both parents were admitted for any psychiatric illness. The risk was greatest if both parents were admitted with alcohol or drug disorders. The study authors wrote in Archives of General Psychiatry that smoking and social adversity measures such as single parenthood and low levels of education had some confounding influence, which may be explained by lack of access to health promotion messages. “Standard SIDS risk reduction messages appear to be ineffective in reaching the most vulnerable families, including those with serious parental mental illness and especially those with alcohol/drug disorders,” they said. They concluded that tailored health education messages should be delivered to mentally ill parents to provide continuing support and that pregnant women should be strongly encouraged to stop smoking at antenatal booking and afterward....