Determining the prevalence of sudden and unexplained death in childhood (SUDC): a national Australian perspective

Sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) is defined as the unexplained death of a child over the age of 12 months. The National Coronial Information System (NCIS) Australia was used to access data for deaths of children aged 1 to 4 years over the period 2010 to 2014. Cases were classified as those in which the cause of death was determined and those in which the child died suddenly and unexpectedly, and the cause of death remained undetermined. Categorical information was extracted for each case to determine risk factors associated with the cause of death. The overall rate of death in Australian children aged 1 to 4 years and for whom coronial data was available from 2010 to 2014 was 9.69/100,000 children. A cause of death was determined in 87% of cases with the average rate of death in this group being 8.49/100,000. Death remained undetermined in 13% of cases. The study determined that the SUDC rate in Australian children aged 1 to 4 years was 0.02/100,000. However, this rate may be as high as 0.40/100,000 children should further investigation be undertaken. These children tended to be 18–20 months of age and male, with death occurring primarily while prone during a sleep period in cooler months, thus having similar characteristics to sudden infant death syndrome.