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Birth characteristics and all-cause mortality : a sibling analysis using the Uppsala birth cohort multigenerational study

Juárez, S. LU ; Goodman, A. ; De Stavola, B. and Koupil, I. (2016) In Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 7(4). p.374-383
Abstract

This paper investigates the association between perinatal health and all-cause mortality for specific age intervals, assessing the contribution of maternal socioeconomic characteristics and the presence of maternal-level confounding. Our study is based on a cohort of 12,564 singletons born between 1915 and 1929 at the Uppsala University Hospital. We fitted Cox regression models to estimate age-varying hazard ratios of all-cause mortality for absolute and relative birth weight and for gestational age. We found that associations with mortality vary by age and according to the measure under scrutiny, with effects being concentrated in infancy, childhood or early adult life. For example, the effect of low birth weight was greatest in the... (More)

This paper investigates the association between perinatal health and all-cause mortality for specific age intervals, assessing the contribution of maternal socioeconomic characteristics and the presence of maternal-level confounding. Our study is based on a cohort of 12,564 singletons born between 1915 and 1929 at the Uppsala University Hospital. We fitted Cox regression models to estimate age-varying hazard ratios of all-cause mortality for absolute and relative birth weight and for gestational age. We found that associations with mortality vary by age and according to the measure under scrutiny, with effects being concentrated in infancy, childhood or early adult life. For example, the effect of low birth weight was greatest in the first year of life and then continued up to 44 years of age (HR between 2.82 and 1.51). These associations were confirmed in within-family analyses, which provided no evidence of residual confounding by maternal characteristics. Our findings support the interpretation that policies oriented towards improving population health should invest in birth outcomes and hence in maternal health.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
birth weight, fetal development, life-course, mortality, Sweden
in
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
volume
7
issue
4
pages
10 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84965078695
  • pmid:27138055
  • wos:000379780300006
ISSN
2040-1744
DOI
10.1017/S2040174416000179
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2913d00e-a77b-40bf-a44c-255f4ae7439a
date added to LUP
2016-06-01 16:34:46
date last changed
2024-01-04 07:50:52
@article{2913d00e-a77b-40bf-a44c-255f4ae7439a,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper investigates the association between perinatal health and all-cause mortality for specific age intervals, assessing the contribution of maternal socioeconomic characteristics and the presence of maternal-level confounding. Our study is based on a cohort of 12,564 singletons born between 1915 and 1929 at the Uppsala University Hospital. We fitted Cox regression models to estimate age-varying hazard ratios of all-cause mortality for absolute and relative birth weight and for gestational age. We found that associations with mortality vary by age and according to the measure under scrutiny, with effects being concentrated in infancy, childhood or early adult life. For example, the effect of low birth weight was greatest in the first year of life and then continued up to 44 years of age (HR between 2.82 and 1.51). These associations were confirmed in within-family analyses, which provided no evidence of residual confounding by maternal characteristics. Our findings support the interpretation that policies oriented towards improving population health should invest in birth outcomes and hence in maternal health.</p>}},
  author       = {{Juárez, S. and Goodman, A. and De Stavola, B. and Koupil, I.}},
  issn         = {{2040-1744}},
  keywords     = {{birth weight; fetal development; life-course; mortality; Sweden}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{374--383}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease}},
  title        = {{Birth characteristics and all-cause mortality : a sibling analysis using the Uppsala birth cohort multigenerational study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2040174416000179}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S2040174416000179}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}