Biomedical subjects

Olga Basso

Publications and source records attributed to Olga Basso.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Subfecundity as a correlate of preeclampsia: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort.

A long interpregnancy interval is associated with preeclampsia. If some women experiencing a long interval between births had difficulty conceiving, subfecundity and preeclampsia may share a common etiology. Therefore, the authors examined the association between subfecundity and preeclampsia. By using interview data collected during the second trimester of pregnancy (1998-2001) from women participating in the Danish National Birth Cohort, they identified 20,034 and 24,698 singleton livebirths to primiparous and multiparous women, respectively, for whom preeclampsia information was available from hospital birth records. Among women with no known hypertension, the authors estimated a higher risk of preeclampsia in those with longer times to pregnancy (TTPs), after adjustment for maternal age, prepregnancy body mass index, and smoking. Compared with primiparas who became pregnant right away (referent category), the risk of preeclampsia increased with TTP and then stabilized for women taking 6 months or longer to conceive, whose risk of preeclampsia increased by 50%. Multiparas also had an increased risk, but only those reporting a TTP longer than 12 months (odds ratio = 2.47, 95% confidence interval: 1.30, 4.69). The authors found that a long TTP was associated with preeclampsia, supporting the hypothesis that some factors delaying clinically recognized conception may also be in a causal pathway for preeclampsia.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Studying health consequences of microchimerism: methodological problems in studying health effects of procreation with multiple partners.

A pregnancy requires a reasonably good health and may have positive as well as negative health consequences for the woman. Part of these health effects may depend on the immune response to the exchange of fetal cells (microchimerism). The number of biological fathers to a woman's children may thus have a health effect beyond the parity effect. A possible design for studying this is to compare health effects for women with or without multiple partners but with the same parity. We compared total and cause specific mortality in these two groups in order to estimate their comparability and thus the problem of confounding. By using population registries we identified all women who had children with at least two different partners from 1973 to 1996 in Denmark (64,704 exposed women). Among all women who had at least two births in the above mentioned time period, we selected a random sample of 100,000 women to obtain information on women having one father for their children. We linked this cohort to a number of registries, including the Cause of Death Registry. We studied cause-specific mortality up to 1997. Altogether 1373 women died during follow-up. Women who had children with more than one partner had a higher relative mortality rate, which was even higher if she had more than two partners. This finding persisted after excluding unnatural deaths and did not depend on time from exposure. Although some of the findings were adjusted for parity, age and social factors, it is highly unlikely that these large differences are entirely related to microchimerism. The study shows that caution is needed when studying health effects of procreation with multiple partners.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Infertility and preterm delivery, birthweight, and Caesarean section: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort.

BACKGROUND: More than 10% of babies are born to couples taking >1 year to conceive (a common definition of infertility). Some evidence indicates that such pregnancies are at increased risk of preterm delivery and other adverse birth outcomes, but the problem has rarely been addressed in large, longitudinal studies enrolling couples irrespective of infertility treatment. METHODS: We used data from the Danish National Birth Cohort: 55 906 singleton live births from women who reported their waiting time to pregnancy (TTP) and other covariates in an interview during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. RESULTS: A TTP >1 year was associated with an increased risk of all outcomes studied, including preterm birth [odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 1.5 (1.2, 1.8) among primiparas and 1.9 (1.5, 2.4) among multiparas]. Odds ratios for preterm remained elevated after adjustment for covariates. Among couples with a TTP >1 year, infertility treatment was associated with added risk only among multiparas. CONCLUSION: Infertile women are at higher risk of adverse birth outcomes even if they conceive without treatment. With >10% of babies born to infertile couples, it is important to consider this group as potentially high risk when providing prenatal care.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The correlation of fecundability among twins: evidence of a genetic effect on fertility?

BACKGROUND: Numerous rare genetic conditions are known to influence fecundability in both males and females. It is less clear to what extent more subtle genetic differences influence fecundability on a population level. METHODS: In 1994 a population-based survey was conducted among Danish twins born 1953-1982. Fecundability was assessed as the waiting time to pregnancy at the first attempt to achieve a pregnancy. RESULTS: The reported time to pregnancy for males was slightly shorter than for females but there were no sex differences in intrapair similarity. We found an intrapair correlation in time to pregnancy for 645 monozygotic twin pairs (r = 0.22; 95% confidence interval = 0.12 to 0.32), but no intrapair correlation for 826 like-sex dizygotic twin pairs (r = 0.00; 95% confidence interval = -0.09 to 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: The correlation in time to pregnancy for monozygotic twins suggests genetic factors, although similarities in reporting behaviors could also be contributing to the correlation. The lack of correlation in time to pregnancy for dizygotic twins indicates that possible genetic factors of importance for fecundabililty are acting nonadditively. Hence, it may prove difficult to identify specific gene variants that influence fecundability on a population level if their effects depend on gene-gene interactions.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2002

Fetal growth and hospitalization with asthma during early childhood: a follow-up study in Denmark.

BACKGROUND: Childhood asthma may have a fetal origin. In order to examine this hypothesis we examined the association between fetal growth indicators and hospitalization with asthma during early childhood. METHODS: We performed a cohort study with 10 440 children whose mothers attended the midwife centres in Odense and Aalborg, Denmark, from April 1984 to April 1987 at approximately the 36th week of gestation. Information on hospitalization with asthma was extracted from the National Hospital Discharge Registry, which allowed a complete follow-up of all members of the cohort who remained alive and residents in the county. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence rates of hospitalization with 'definite' and 'any' asthma were 3.5% and 5.0%, respectively, at 12 years of age. After adjusting for potential confounders, there were increased trends in the risk of asthma hospitalization with birthweight and ponderal index. More pronounced trends, particularly in the risk of definite asthma, were found among children of over the average birthweight (IRR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.02-2.59 per 1000 g increase) or ponderal index (IRR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02-1.10 per 0.1 g/cm(3) increase). However, the increased risk in large babies was seen only in children with a ponderal index of > or =2.5 g/cm3. CONCLUSION: Birthweight and ponderal index were associated with childhood asthma indicated by hospitalization. Fetal growth itself, determinants of fetal growth, or any unadjusted factors that correlate with fetal growth, could cause the association.

Anthropometry↗

PubMed2002

Risk factors for febrile convulsions.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the relative importance of genes and early environment in the etiology of febrile convulsions. METHODS: We performed a follow-up study using data from two nationwide registers in Denmark, 1980-1998. The study population comprised 10,224 younger siblings of children who had had febrile convulsions, and 21,218 younger siblings of children who had never been hospitalized with febrile convulsions. RESULTS: The study provides three main findings. First, if a previous child had had a febrile convulsion, the risk was lower for the next child if either parent changed partners. Compared with full-siblings, the hazard ratio (HR) of febrile convulsions was 0.6 for paternal half-siblings and 0.7 for maternal half-siblings. In contrast, if there was no history of febrile convulsions in the previous child, a change in partner was associated with a slight increase in risk (1.2 among paternal half-siblings and 1.3 among maternal half-siblings). Secondly, the risk of febrile convulsion was strongly associated with the number of hospitalizations for febrile convulsions experienced by the older siblings, with a doubling of risk among those whose older sibling had had three or more hospitalizations. Thirdly, the risk of febrile convulsions increased with decreasing gestational age, birth weight, and birth weight ratio regardless of family history. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the etiology of febrile convulsions depends on a genetic susceptibility that can be transmitted through both parents, and corroborates the hypothesis that multiple febrile convulsions may constitute a separate etiological entity.

Birth Weight↗