The Sudden Death in the Young Case Registry: Collaborating to Understand and Reduce Mortality.

Knowledge gaps persist about the incidence of and risk factors for sudden death in the young (SDY). The SDY Case Registry is a collaborative effort between the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Michigan Public Health Institute. Its goals are to: (1) describe the incidence of SDY in the United States by using population-based surveillance; (2) compile data from SDY cases to create a resource of information and DNA samples for research; (3) encourage standardized approaches to investigation, autopsy, and categorization of SDY cases; (4) develop partnerships between local, state, and federal stakeholders toward a common goal of understanding and preventing SDY; and (5) support families who have lost loved ones to SDY by providing resources on bereavement and medical evaluation of surviving family members.

Death Scene Investigation and Autopsy Practices in Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths.

Objective: To describe and compare sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) investigations among states participating in the SUID Case Registry from 2010 through 2012.

Study Design: We analyzed observational data from 770 SUID cases identified and entered into the National Child Death Review Case Reporting System. We examined data on autopsy and death scene investigation (DSI) components, including key information about the infant sleep environment.

Cause-specific mortality among children and young adults with epilepsy: Results from the U.S. National Child Death Review Case Reporting System.

We investigated causes of death in children and young adults with epilepsy by using data from the U.S. National Child Death Review Case Reporting System (NCDR-CRS), a passive surveillance system composed of comprehensive information related to deaths reviewed by local child death review teams.

Cardiovascular deaths in children: general overview from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths.

Background: Cardiovascular conditions rank sixth in causes of death in 1- to 19-year-olds. Our study is the first analysis of the cardiovascular death data set from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths, which provides the only systematic collection of cardiovascular deaths in children.

Methods: We developed an analytical data set from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths database for cardiovascular deaths in children 0 to 21 years old, reviewing 1,098 cases from 2005 to 2009 in 16 states who agreed to participate.

Development of a data set of national cardiovascular deaths in the young.

Background: The only systematic collection of cardiovascular (CV) deaths in children resides in the database derived from the Case Reporting System of the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths (NCRPCD). We describe the process used to develop an analytical data set to inform our understanding of CV deaths in children from this database.

Methods: Twenty-five states reporting natural CV deaths during 2005 to 2009 were contacted.

Classification system for the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Case Registry and its application.

Sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) accounted for 1 in 3 postneonatal deaths in 2010. Sudden infant death syndrome and accidental sleep-related suffocation are among the most frequently reported types of SUID. The causes of these SUID usually are not obvious before a medico-legal investigation and may remain unexplained even after investigation.

The public health approach for understanding and preventing child maltreatment: a brief review of the literature and a call to action.

Over the past 50 years, most major advances in child maltreatment have focused on protecting severely maltreated children and punishing perpetrators. This article argues that it is time to rigorously apply a public health framework to improve our understanding of, and accelerate efforts to, prevent child abuse and neglect. The article describes the fundamentals of a public health approach; discusses how this approach has been applied to improve surveillance of serious maltreatment injuries and fatalities, the understanding of risk and protective factors, and the long-term consequences of maltreatment; and describes how a public health approach is an effective means to prevention.

Child maltreatment deaths in the U.S. National Child Death Review Case Reporting System.

Comprehensive reviews of child death are increasingly conducted throughout the world, although limited information is available about how this information is systematically used to prevent future deaths. To address this need, we used cases from 2005 to 2009 in the U.S.

Sudden unexpected infant deaths: sleep environment and circumstances.

Objectives: We sought to describe the characteristics and sleep circumstances of infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly and to examine similarities and differences in risk factors among infants whose deaths are classified as resulting from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), suffocation, or undetermined causes.

Methods: We used 2005 to 2008 data from 9 US states to assess 3136 sleep-related sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs).

Results: Only 25% of infants were sleeping in a crib or on their back when found; 70% were on a surface not intended for infant sleep (e.

The sudden unexpected infant death case registry: a method to improve surveillance.

This article describes a multistate population-based surveillance system for monitoring sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs) known as the SUID Case Registry pilot program. The pilot program represents collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Child Death Review (NCCDR), which is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The SUID Case Registry builds on existing child death review system activities and protocols.

Assessment of caregiver responsibility in unintentional child injury deaths: challenges for injury prevention.

Most unintentional injury deaths among young children result from inadequate supervision or failure by caregivers to protect the child from potential hazards. Determining whether inadequate supervision or failure to protect could be classified as child neglect is a component of child death review (CDR) in most states. However, establishing that an unintentional injury death was neglect related can be challenging as differing definitions, lack of standards regarding supervision, and changing norms make consensus difficult.

The US National Child Death review case reporting system.

The National Child Death Review Case Reporting System (NCDR-CRS) was developed in the USA to provide child death review teams with a simple method for capturing, analysing, and reporting on the full set of information shared at a child death or serious injury review. The NCDR-CRS is a web based system currently being used by 35 of the 50 US states. This article describes the purpose, features, limitations, and strengths of the system.

Using capture-recapture methods to better ascertain the incidence of fatal child maltreatment.

Objectives: To (1) test the use of capture-recapture methods to estimate the total number of child maltreatment deaths in a single state using information from death certificates, child welfare reports, child death review teams, and uniform crime reports; and to (2) compare these estimates to the number of maltreatment deaths identified through an in-depth "gold standard" review.

Methods: Child maltreatment deaths were identified in four existing administrative data sources: (1) death reports in our state vital statistics (DC); (2) child death review team reports (CDR); (3) homicide reports filed by our state police agency as uniform crime report (UCR) supplements for the FBI; and (4) abstracted reports of a minor's death from our state child protective services (CPS) agency. Capture-recapture pair-wise and pooled comparisons were then applied to estimate the numbers of abuse and total maltreatment deaths and were compared to the number of cases identified by independent case review.

Public health surveillance of fatal child maltreatment: analysis of 3 state programs.

Objectives: We sought to describe approaches to surveillance of fatal child maltreatment and to identify options for improving case ascertainment.

Methods: Three states--California, Michigan, and Rhode Island--used multiple data sources for surveillance. Potential cases were identified, operational definitions were applied, and the number of maltreatment deaths was determined.

Depression in later-life Puerto Rican primary care patients: the role of illness, stress, social integration, and religiosity.

Background: Older Puerto Ricans belong to two rapidly growing demographic groups known to have high rates of depression: the aging and Hispanic populations. Studies of depression in Puerto Ricans have primarily focused on the impact of demographic factors and health. This study expands previous research, examining the relationships between depression and social stressors, social support, and religiosity, for Puerto Rican primary care patients aged 50 and older.