| 1. |
- KC, Ashish, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in preterm birth and stillbirth during COVID-19 lockdowns in 26 countries.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature human behaviour. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3374. ; 7:4, s. 529-544
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide. Changes in PTB rates, ranging from -90% to +30%, were reported in many countries following early COVID-19 pandemic response measures ('lockdowns'). It is unclear whether this variation reflects real differences in lockdown impacts, or perhaps differences in stillbirth rates and/or study designs. Here we present interrupted time series and meta-analyses using harmonized data from 52 million births in 26 countries, 18 of which had representative population-based data, with overall PTB rates ranging from 6% to 12% and stillbirth ranging from 2.5 to 10.5 per 1,000 births. We show small reductions in PTB in the first (odds ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.95-0.98, P value <0.0001), second (0.96, 0.92-0.99, 0.03) and third (0.97, 0.94-1.00, 0.09) months of lockdown, but not in the fourth month of lockdown (0.99, 0.96-1.01, 0.34), although there were some between-country differences after the first month. For high-income countries in this study, we did not observe an association between lockdown and stillbirths in the second (1.00, 0.88-1.14, 0.98), third (0.99, 0.88-1.12, 0.89) and fourth (1.01, 0.87-1.18, 0.86) months of lockdown, although we have imprecise estimates due to stillbirths being a relatively rare event. We did, however, find evidence of increased risk of stillbirth in the first month of lockdown in high-income countries (1.14, 1.02-1.29, 0.02) and, in Brazil, we found evidence for an association between lockdown and stillbirth in the second (1.09, 1.03-1.15, 0.002), third (1.10, 1.03-1.17, 0.003) and fourth (1.12, 1.05-1.19, <0.001) months of lockdown. With an estimated 14.8 million PTB annually worldwide, the modest reductions observed during early pandemic lockdowns translate into large numbers of PTB averted globally and warrant further research into causal pathways.
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| 2. |
- Ahlén, Katia M, et al.
(författare)
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Antibiotic treatment and length of hospital stay in relation to delivery mode and prematurity
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS One. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 1932-6203.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIM: To investigate how 1) maternal delivery mode and 2) prematurity in infants are associated to antibiotic treatment and length of hospital stay. METHODS: Women having given birth and infants 0-12 months discharged from hospital between July 2005 and November 2011 were identified from the Swedish National Patient Register. Medical records were reviewed for 203 women and 527 infants. The risk ratio (RR) between antibiotic treatment and 1) delivery mode in women; 2) prematurity in infants was calculated. Length of stay and days of antibiotic therapy were compared by Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS: Women: There was an association between emergency caesarean section (CS) and antibiotic treatment (RR 5.0 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-11.5), but not for elective CS. Length of stay was longer for CS (emergency and elective) compared to vaginal delivery (p<0.01). Infants: RR for antibiotic treatment in preterm compared to term infants was 1.4 (95% CI 1.0-1.9). Length of stay (p<0.01), but not days of therapy (p = 0.17), was higher in preterm compared to term infants. CONCLUSION: We found that emergency CS increased the probability of maternal antibiotic treatment during hospitalisation, but no difference was found between term and preterm infants. The results are well aligned with current guidelines and may be considered in future studies on the effects of antibiotics.
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| 3. |
- Almqvist, Catarina, et al.
(författare)
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Cohort profile : Swedish Twin Study on Prediction and Prevention of Asthma (STOPPA)
- 2015
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Ingår i: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Asthma is a common childhood disease and several risk factors have been identified, however the impact of genes and environment is not fully understood. The aim of the Swedish Twin study On Prediction and Prevention of Asthma (STOPPA) is to identify environmental (birth characteristics and early life) and genetic (including epigenetic) factors as determinants for asthmatic disease. Based on the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (parental interview at 9 or 12 years, N~23,900) and an asthma and/or wheezing algorithm, we identified a sample of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) same-sexed twin pairs. The twin pairs were identified as asthma concordant (ACC), asthma discordant (ADC) and healthy concordant (HCC). A sample of 9- to 14-year-old twins and their parents were invited to participate in a clinical examination. Background characteristics were collected in questionnaires and obtained from the National Health Registers. A clinical examination was performed to test lung function and capacity (spirometry with reversibility test and exhaled nitric oxide) and collect blood (serology and DNA), urine (metabolites), feces (microbiota) and saliva (cortisol). In total, 376 twin pairs (752 individual twins) completed the study, response rate 52%. All participating twins answered the questionnaire and >90% participated in lung function testing, blood and saliva sampling. This article describes the design, recruitment, data collection, measures, background characteristics as well as ongoing and planned analyses in STOPPA. Potential gains of the study include the identification of biomarkers, the emergence of candidates for drug development and new leads for prevention of asthma and allergic disease.
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| 4. |
- Almqvist, Catarina, et al.
(författare)
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Individual maternal and child exposure to antibiotics in hospital : a national population-based validation study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Acta Paediatrica: Nurturing the Child. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 0803-5253 .- 1651-2227.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: Exposure to antibiotics in early life may affect future health. Most antibiotics are prescribed in outpatient care, but inpatient exposure is also important. We estimated how specific diagnoses in hospitals corresponded to individual antibiotic exposure. Methods: All pregnant women and children from birth to five-years-of-age with infectious diseases and common inpatient diagnoses between July 2005 and November 2011were identified from the Swedish National Patient Register. Random samples of individuals from pre-defined groups were drawn and medical records received from the clinics were manually reviewed for antibiotics. Results: Medical records for 4,319 hospital visits were requested and 3,797 (88%) were received. A quarter (25%) of children diagnosed as premature had received antibiotics and in children from one to five-years-of-age, diagnoses associated with bacterial infections were more commonly treated with antibiotics (62.4-90.6%) than those associated with viruses (6.3-22.2%). Pregnant women who had undergone a Caesarean section were more likely to be treated with antibiotics than those who had had a vaginal delivery (40.1% versus 11.1%). Conclusions: This study defines the proportion of new mothers and young children who received individual antibiotic treatment for specific inpatient diagnoses in Sweden and provides a useful basis for future studies focusing on antibiotic use.
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| 5. |
- Fall, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Early Exposure to Dogs and Farm Animals and the Risk of Childhood Asthma
- 2015
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Ingår i: JAMA pediatrics. - Stockholm : American Medical Association. - 2168-6203 .- 2168-6211. ; 169:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IMPORTANCE: The association between early exposure to animals and childhood asthma is not clear, and previous studies have yielded contradictory results.OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure to dogs and farm animals confers a risk of asthma.DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In a nationwide cohort study, the association between early exposure to dogs and farm animals and the risk of asthma was evaluated and included all children born in Sweden from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2010 (N = 1 011 051), using registry data on dog and farm registration, asthma medication, diagnosis, and confounders for parents and their children. The association was assessed as the odds ratio (OR) for a current diagnosis of asthma at age 6 years for school-aged children and as the hazard ratio (HR) for incident asthma at ages 1 to 5 years for preschool-aged children. Data were analyzed from January 1, 2007, to September 30, 2012.EXPOSURES: Living with a dog or farm animal.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Childhood asthma diagnosis and medication used.RESULTS: Of the 1 011 051 children born during the study period, 376 638 preschool-aged (53 460 [14.2%] exposed to dogs and 1729 [0.5%] exposed to farm animals) and 276 298 school-aged children (22 629 [8.2%] exposed to dogs and 958 [0.3%] exposed to farm animals) were included in the analyses. Of these, 18 799 children (5.0%) in the preschool-aged children's cohort experienced an asthmatic event before baseline, and 28 511 cases of asthma and 906 071 years at risk were recorded during follow-up (incidence rate, 3.1 cases per 1000 years at risk). In the school-aged children's cohort, 11 585 children (4.2%) experienced an asthmatic event during the seventh year of life. Dog exposure during the first year of life was associated with a decreased risk of asthma in school-aged children (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.81-0.93) and in preschool-aged children 3 years or older (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99) but not in children younger than 3 years (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.07). Results were comparable when analyzing only first-born children. Farm animal exposure was associated with a reduced risk of asthma in both school-aged children and preschool-aged children (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.31-0.76, and HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.56-0.84), respectively.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, the data support the hypothesis that exposure to dogs and farm animals during the first year of life reduces the risk of asthma in children at age 6 years. This information might be helpful in decision making for families and physicians on the appropriateness and timing of early animal exposure.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Nguyen, Long H., et al.
(författare)
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Antibiotic use and the development of inflammatory bowel disease : a national case-control study in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. - : Elsevier. - 2468-1253. ; 5:11, s. 986-995
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Use of antibiotics in early life has been linked with childhood inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but data for adults are mixed, and based on smaller investigations that did not compare risk among siblings with shared genetic or environmental risk factors. We aimed to investigate the association between antibiotic therapy and IBD in a large, population-based study.Methods: In this prospective case-control study, we identified people living in Sweden aged 16 years or older, with a diagnosis of IBD based on histology and at least one diagnosis code for IBD or its subtypes (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease). We identified consecutive patients with incident IBD from the ESPRESSO (Epidemiology Strengthened by histoPathology Reports in Sweden) study, cross-referenced with the Swedish Patient Register and the Prescribed Drug Register. We accrued data for cumulative antibiotic dispensations until 1 year before time of matching for patients and up to five general population controls per patient (matched on the basis of age, sex, county, and calendar year). We also included unaffected full siblings as a secondary control group. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% CIs for diagnosis of incident IBD.Findings: We identified 23 982 new patients with IBD (15 951 ulcerative colitis, 7898 Crohn's disease, 133 unclassified IBD) diagnosed between Jan 1, 2007, and Dec 31, 2016. 117 827 matched controls and 28 732 siblings were also identified. After adjusting for several risk factors, aOR in patients who had used antibiotics versus those who had never used antibiotics was 1.88 (95% CI 1.79-1.98) for diagnosis of incident IBD, 1.74 (1.64-1.85) for ulcerative colitis, and 2.27 (2.06-2.49) for Crohn's disease. aOR was higher in patients who had received one antibiotic dispensation (1.11, 1.07-1.15), two antibiotic dispensations (1.38, 1.32-1.44), and three or more antibiotic dispensations (1.55, 1.49-1.61) than patients who had none. Increased risk was noted for ulcerative colitis (aOR with three or more antibiotic dispensations 1.47, 95% CI 1.40-1.54) and Crohn's disease (1.64, 1.53-1.76) with higher estimates corresponding to broad-spectrum antibiotics. Similar but attenuated results were observed when siblings were used as the reference group, with an aOR of 1.35 (95% CI 1.28-1.43) for patients who had received three or more dispensations, compared with general population controls.Interpretation: Higher cumulative exposure to systemic antibiotic therapy, particularly treatments with greater spectrum of microbial coverage, may be associated with a greater risk of new-onset IBD and its subtypes. The association between antimicrobial treatment and IBD did not appear to differ when predisposed siblings were used as the reference controls. Our findings, if substantiated by longer-term prospective studies in humans or mechanistic preclinical investigations, suggest the need to further emphasise antibiotic stewardship to prevent the rise in dysbiosis-related chronic diseases, including IBD.
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| 8. |
- Tedner, Sandra G, et al.
(författare)
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Fetal growth and risk of childhood asthma and allergic disease
- 2012
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Ingår i: Clinical & Experimental Allergy. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 1365-2222 .- 0954-7894.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Early genetic and environmental factors have been discussed as potential causes for the high prevalence of asthma and allergic disease in the western world, and knowledge on fetal growth and its consequence on future health and disease development is emerging. Objective: This review article is an attempt to summarize research on fetal growth and risk of asthma and allergic disease. Current knowledge and novel findings will be reviewed and open research questions identified, to give basic scientists, immunologists and clinicians an overview of an emerging research field. Methods: PubMed-search on pre-defined terms and cross-references. Results: Several studies have shown a correlation between low birth weight and/or gesta- tional age and asthma and high birth weight and/or gestational age and atopy. The exact mechanism is not yet clear but both environmental and genetic factors seem to contribute to fetal growth. Some of these factors are confounders that can be adjusted for, and twin studies have been very helpful in this context. Suggested mechanisms behind fetal growth are often linked to the feto-maternal circulation, including the development of placenta and umbilical cord. However, the causal link between fetal growth restriction and subse- quent asthma and allergic disease remains unexplained. New research regarding the catch-up growth following growth restriction has posited an alternative theory that dis- eases later on in life result from rapid catch-up growth rather than intrauterine growth restriction per se. Several studies have found a correlation between a rapid weight gain after birth and development of asthma or wheezing in childhood. Conclusion and clinical relevance: Asthma and allergic disease are multifactorial. Several mechanisms seem to influence their development. Additional studies are needed before we fully understand the causal links between fetal growth and development of asthma and allergic diseases.
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| 9. |
- Örtqvist, Anne K, et al.
(författare)
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Antibiotics in fetal and early life and subsequent childhood asthma : nationwide population based study with sibling analysis
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMJ. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 0959-535X .- 1756-1833.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Erratum to this article in BMJ. 2014;349:g7395. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between exposure to antibiotics in fetal and early life and asthma in childhood, with adjustment for confounding factors. DESIGN: Nationwide prospective population based cohort study, including sibling control design. SETTING: Swedish population identified from national demographic and health registers. PARTICIPANTS: 493,785 children born 2006-10; 180,894 of these were eligible for sibling analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Asthma defined as having both an asthma diagnosis and dispensed asthma drugs. The association between antibiotic exposure and asthma was investigated in the whole cohort with Cox proportional hazard regression. A stratified proportional hazards model conditional on sibling group was used to adjust for shared factors within families. Confounding by respiratory infections was assessed by investigating whether specific groups of antibiotics were associated with asthma. RESULTS: Antibiotic exposure in fetal life was associated with an increased risk of asthma in cohort analyses (hazard ratio 1.28, 95% confidence interval 1.25 to 1.32), but not in sibling analyses (0.99, 0.92 to 1.07). In cohort analyses, antibiotics used to treat respiratory infections in childhood were associated with a more pronounced increased risk of asthma (4.12, 3.78 to 4.50) than antibiotics used for urinary tract and skin infections (1.54, 1.24 to 1.92). In sibling analyses, the excess risks after exposure to antibiotics for respiratory infections decreased (2.36, 1.78 to 3.13) and disappeared for antibiotics for urinary tract and skin (0.85, 0.47 to 1.55). CONCLUSIONS: Previous positive associations between exposure to antibiotics in fetal and early life and subsequent childhood asthma could have been caused by confounding by shared familial factors, in addition to confounding by respiratory infections.
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| 10. |
- Örtqvist, Anne K, et al.
(författare)
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Association between travel time to delivery unit and unplanned out-of-hospital birth, infant morbidity and mortality : a population-based cohort study.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0001-6349 .- 1600-0412. ; 100:8, s. 1478-1489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Over the last decade, a number of delivery units have been closed in Sweden, justified by both economic incentives and patient safety issues. However, concentrating births to larger delivery units naturally increases travel time for some parturient women, which may lead to unintended negative consequences. We aimed to investigate the association between travel time to delivery unit and unplanned out-of-hospital birth, and subsequent infant morbidity and mortality.MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a population-based cohort study including 365 604 women in the Swedish Pregnancy Register, giving birth between 2014-2017. Modified Poisson regression was used to investigate the association between travel time from home address to actual delivery unit, based on geographical information system analysis, and risk of an unplanned out-of-hospital birth. Analyses were stratified by parity and urban/rural residence. Lastly, the associations between an unplanned out-of-hospital birth and severe infant morbidity, stillbirth, peripartum, perinatal and neonatal mortality were investigated.RESULTS: Of those with an unplanned out-of-hospital birth (n=2159), 65% had a travel time up to 30 minutes. A travel time between 31-60 minutes was associated with a doubled risk of unplanned out-of-hospital birth (adjusted Risk Ratio (RR) 1.96, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.74-2.22) and women with a travel time of more than 1 hour had an adjusted RR of 3.19 (95% CI 2.64-3.86), compared to those with a travel time of less than 30 minutes. No difference in results was seen when stratified for parity and urban/rural residence. No association was found between unplanned out-of-hospital birth and severe infant morbidity. Significant associations were found in crude analyses for stillbirth (RR 1.85, 95% CI 1.09-3.13), peripartum (RR 1.93, 95% CI 1.18-3.16), perinatal (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.28-3.23) and neonatal mortality (RR 3.08, 95% CI 1.27-7.46), although neonatal mortality was very rare (2.3 per 1000 out-of-hospital births). Similar effect estimates were found in the adjusted analyses, though no longer significant.CONCLUSIONS: While the majority of unplanned out-of-hospital births occurred in the group of women with a travel time of 0-30 minutes, increasing travel time to a delivery unit is associated with unplanned out-of-hospital birth, which may increase the risk of mortality.
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