Data Collection to Aid SIDS Investigation

A new recording form is designed to provide authorities, coroners, and medical examiners with the information they need to accurately determine the cause of a child's death from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) reporting form released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA), now establishes national standards for data collection at the scene of infant death investigations. SIDS is the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, where each year more than 4,500 infants die suddenly, with no obvious cause.

The newly designed form will be used by all states, counties, and local jurisdictions on a voluntary basis to gather information about the circumstances of all sudden unexplained infant deaths. To standardize the investigations of, and reports on, the causes of sudden infant deaths, the division of reproductive health at the CDC initiated a Sudden Unexplained Death initiative in 2004. CDC has been collaborating with organizations representing those who investigate infant death scenes, using data gathered at the death scenes, and supporting parents who have had an infant die.

The CDC will train investigators in how to consistently collect data at the death scene and accurately report the data on the death certificate.



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