Exploring the possible relationship between ambient heat and sudden infant death with data from Vienna, Austria

Abstract

A non-linear relationship between maximum ambient temperature and number of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases had been reported for Montreal, Canada, for the warm season. In particular, high maximum ambient temperatures were found to be extra-hazardous for infants. The study was replicated with data from Vienna, Austria, applying the same statistical approach. Vienna is roughly comparable to Montreal with regard to temperatures in the warm season, size of population, and number of SIDS cases. Although the Viennese study was powerful enough to detect even smaller effects, the Montrealean results could not be confirmed. The Viennese results do not support the hypothesis of a strong effect of maximum ambient temperature on the risk of SIDS during the warm season.