Goisis, A;
Remes, H;
Barclay, K;
Martikainen, P;
Myrskylä, M;
(2018)
Paternal age and the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery: a Finnish register-based study.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
, 72
(12)
pp. 1104-1109.
10.1136/jech-2017-210170.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Based on existing studies, there is no conclusive evidence as to whether and why paternal age matters for birth outcomes. METHODS: We used Finnish population registers on 106 652 children born 1987-2000. We first document the unadjusted association between paternal age and the risk of low birth weight (LBW; <2500 g) and preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation). Second, we investigate whether the unadjusted association is attenuated on adjustment for child's, maternal and parental socioeconomic characteristics. Third, by adopting a within-family design which involves comparing children born to the same father at different ages, we additionally adjust for unobserved parental characteristics shared between siblings. RESULTS: The unadjusted results show that being born to a father aged 40+, as opposed to a father aged 30-34, is associated with an increased risk of LBW of 0.96% (95% CI 0.5% to 1.3%) and to a younger father (<25) with a 1% (95% CI 0.6% to 1.3%) increased risk. The increased risk at younger paternal ages is halved on adjustment for the child's characteristics and fully attenuated on adjustment for child/parental characteristics. The increased risk at paternal ages 40+ is partially attenuated on adjustment for maternal characteristics (β=0.62%; 95% CI 0.13% to 1.1%). Adjustment for unobserved parental characteristics shared by siblings further attenuates the 40+ coefficient (β=0.4%; 95% CI -0.5% to -1.2%). Results for preterm delivery are similar. CONCLUSIONS: The results underscore the importance of considering paternal age as a potential risk factor for adverse birth outcomes and of expanding research on its role and the mechanisms linking it to birth outcomes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Paternal age and the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery: a Finnish register-based study |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/jech-2017-210170 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-210170 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | child health, demography, fertility, registers |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10067110 |
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