AJPH
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hogberg, U.
Right arrow Articles by Bergstrom, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hogberg, U.
Right arrow Articles by Bergstrom, E.
Related Collections
Right arrow Epidemiology
Right arrow Other Maternal and Infant Health
Right arrow Prevention

American Journal of Public Health, Vol 90, Issue 4 527-531, Copyright © 2000 by American Public Health Association

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Suffocated prone: the iatrogenic tragedy of SIDS

U Hogberg and E Bergstrom
Department of Clinical Science, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Umea University, Sweden. ulf.hogberg@obstgyn.umu.se

Epidemiologic research has shown that prone sleeping is a major risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In a public health review from Sweden, we explored the historical background of the SIDS epidemic, starting with the view of the Catholic Church that sudden infant deaths were infanticides and ending with the slowly disseminated recommendation of a prone sleeping position during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The story of the SIDS epidemic illustrates a pitfall of preventive medicine--the translation of health care routines for patients to general health advice that targets the whole population. False advice, as well as correct advice, may have a profound effect on public health because of the many individuals concerned. Preventive measures must be based on scientific evidence, and systematic supervision and evaluations are necessary to identify the benefits or the harm of the measures. The discovery of the link between prone sleeping and SIDS has been called a success story for epidemiology, but the slow acceptance of the causal relationship between prone sleeping and SIDS illustrates the weak position of epidemiology and public health within the health care system.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Int J EpidemiolHome page
R. Gilbert, G. Salanti, M. Harden, and S. See
Infant sleeping position and the sudden infant death syndrome: systematic review of observational studies and historical review of recommendations from 1940 to 2002
Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2005; 34(4): 874 - 887.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
U. Hogberg
The Decline in Maternal Mortality in Sweden: The Role of Community Midwifery
Am J Public Health, August 1, 2004; 94(8): 1312 - 1320.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2000 by the American Public Health Association