SUIDI reporting form\u2014EV

User Manual Version 1.0Each year in the United States, more than 4,500 infants die suddenly of no obvious cause. Half of these sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) are due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of SUID and of all deaths among infants aged 1\u201312 months.The SIDS rate has been declining significantly since the early 1990s. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research has found that some deaths that would have been classified as SIDS before 1999 are now being classified as accidental suffocation or unknown/unspecified cause, suggesting that diagnostic and reporting practices have changed. This trend information concerned the CDC because inaccurate or inconsistent cause-of-death determination and reporting hamper the ability to monitor national trends, ascertain risk factors, and design and evaluate programs to prevent these deaths.Many SUID cases are not investigated, and when they are, cause-of-death data are not collected and reported consistently. Inaccurate classification of cause and manner of death hampers prevention efforts and researchers are unable to adequately monitor national trends, identify risk factors, or evaluate intervention programs. We need valid and reliable data to support research and prevention efforts if we want to reduce these infant deaths.In 2003, CDC began leading the effort to revise the 1996 Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) Reporting Form and Guidelines for the scene investigation, as well as actively educating and disseminating training materials on infant death scene investigations to improve inaccurate classification of SUID in the United States. In 2004, CDC's Division of Reproductive Health (DRH) and its partners implemented additional activities aimed at improving the accuracy and consistency of the reporting and classification of SUID deaths. These activities included the development of a new standard investigation reporting form, training curriculum materials for conducting a thorough SUID death scene investigation, a planned effort to disseminate and promote the use of these SUID investigations tools and materials, and the development of a SUID case registry.The new Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) Reporting Form, including the electronic version (EV), was developed to standardize and improve data collected at infant death scenes. This new reporting form replaces the 1996 Guidelines for the Death Scene Investigation of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death and the Investigation Report Form (SUIDIRF).200