Advanced Maternal Age and the Risk of Low Birth Weight and Preterm Delivery: a Within-Family Analysis Using Finnish Population Registers

Advanced Maternal Age and the Risk of Low Birth Weight and Preterm Delivery : a Within-Family Analysis Using Finnish Population Registers

Advanced maternal age at birth is considered a major risk factor for birth outcomes. It is unclear to what extent this association is confounded by maternal characteristics. To test whether advanced maternal age at birth independently increases the risk of low birth weight (< 2,500 g) and preterm birth (< 37 weeks' gestation), we compared between-family models (children born to different mothers at different ages) with within-family models (children born to the same mother at different ages). The latter procedure reduces confounding by unobserved parental characteristics that are shared by siblings. We used Finnish population registers, including 124,098 children born during 1987-2000. When compared with maternal ages 25-29 years in between-family models, maternal ages of 35-39 years and a parts per thousand40 years were associated with percentage increases of 1.1 points (95% confidence intervals: 0.8, 1.4) and 2.2 points (95% confidence intervals: 1.4, 2.9), respectively, in the probability of low birth weight. The associations are similar for the risk of preterm delivery. In within-family models, the relationship between advanced maternal age and low birth weight or preterm birth is statistically and substantively negligible. In Finland, advanced maternal age is not independently associated with the risk of low birth weight or preterm delivery among mothers who have had at least 2 live births.

Remes, Hanna (author)
Barclay, KieronStockholms universitet,Sociologiska institutionen,London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom; Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany(Swepub:su)kbarc (author)
Martikainen, PekkaStockholms universitet,Centrum för forskning om ojämlikhet i hälsa (CHESS)(Swepub:su)pemar (author)
Myrskylä, Mikko (author)
Stockholms universitetSociologiska institutionen (creator_code:org_t)

In:American Journal of Epidemiology: Oxford University Press (OUP)186:11, s. 1219-12260002-92621476-6256

By the author/editor: Goisis, Alice; Remes, Hanna; Barclay, Kieron; Martikainen, Pek ...; Myrskylä, Mikko

About the subject

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES: MEDICAL AND HEAL ...; and Health Sciences; and Public Health Gl ...

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.