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Maternal ethnicity and the prevalence of British pregnancies affected by neural tube defects

Peake, JN; Knowles, RL; Shawe, J; Rankin, J; Copp, AJ; (2021) Maternal ethnicity and the prevalence of British pregnancies affected by neural tube defects. Birth Defects Research 10.1002/bdr2.1893. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Few data are available on the prevalence of neural tube defects (NTDs) within different ethnic communities of the United Kingdom. This study aimed to calculate prevalence estimates for NTD‐affected pregnancies, classified by maternal ethnicity, and to explore why variations in prevalence might exist. / Methods: A cross‐sectional study was performed with data from regional congenital anomaly registers in England and Wales, for NTD‐affected pregnancies between 2006 and 2011. Using binomial regression models, we examined NTD‐affected pregnancy prevalence estimates and rate ratios (PRRs), by maternal ethnicity. / Results: The prevalence of NTDs was 12.14 per 10,000 births, with no differences between study years. Anencephaly, encephalocele and spina bifida occurred at 4.98, 1.37 and 5.80 per 10,000 births respectively. Mothers of Indian ethnicity were 1.84 times more likely (95% CI: 1.24, 2.73) and Bangladeshi mothers 2.86 times more likely (95% CI: 1.48, 5.53) than White mothers to have an NTD‐affected pregnancy, after adjusting for maternal deprivation and maternal age. The excess prevalence in Indian mothers was specifically for anencephaly (PRR 2.57; 95% CI: 1.52, 4.34), and in Bangladeshi mothers the trend was for increased spina bifida (PRR 3.86; 95% CI: 0.72, 8.69). Anencephaly in Indian mothers was especially associated with other congenital anomalies (non‐isolated NTDs). / Conclusions: Different British ethnic groups vary in NTD prevalence. The excess prevalence of anencephaly as a non‐isolated NTD in pregnancies of Indian mothers could indicate involvement of genetic or other unmeasured behavioral factors. Future work is needed to seek etiological explanations for the ethnicity differences and to develop improved methods for primary prevention.

Type: Article
Title: Maternal ethnicity and the prevalence of British pregnancies affected by neural tube defects
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/bdr2.1893
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.1893
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Birth Defects Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: ethnicity, neural tube defects, pregnancy, prevention, spina bifida
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Biology and Cancer Dept
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125300
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