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Perinatal complications and socio-economic differences in cerebral palsy in Sweden - a national cohort study

Hjern, Anders and Thorngren-Jerneck, Kristina LU (2008) In BMC Pediatrics 8.
Abstract
Background: There is a controversy regarding the existence of a socio-economic gradient for cerebral palsy. Perinatal emergencies and preterm birth increase the risk for the offspring to develop cerebral palsy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of socio-economic indicators with cerebral palsy (CP) and the role of perinatal health as mediator of this association. Methods: Register study of a national cohort of 805,543 children born 1987-93, including 1,437 children with cerebral palsy that were identified in hospital discharge data from national registers. Socio-economic indicators of the household were taken from the Census of 1985. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses of linearity were used to test... (More)
Background: There is a controversy regarding the existence of a socio-economic gradient for cerebral palsy. Perinatal emergencies and preterm birth increase the risk for the offspring to develop cerebral palsy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of socio-economic indicators with cerebral palsy (CP) and the role of perinatal health as mediator of this association. Methods: Register study of a national cohort of 805,543 children born 1987-93, including 1,437 children with cerebral palsy that were identified in hospital discharge data from national registers. Socio-economic indicators of the household were taken from the Census of 1985. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses of linearity were used to test hypotheses. Results: There was a linear association between the incidence of CP (excluding cases caused by registered injuries or malformations) as well as of major perinatal indicators and the socioeconomic status (SES) of the household of the mother (p < 0.001). Children in households with low SES had a higher odds ratio of CP ( OR 1.49 [95% C.I. 1.16-1.91]) compared with high SES after adjustment for demographic confounders. This OR decreased to 1.36 (1.05-1.71) after adjustment for perinatal indicators with preterm birth as the most important mediating variable. Conclusion: This study suggests that there is a continuous socio-economic gradient for CP in Sweden. Further studies in more complete populations of children with cerebral palsy are needed to confirm this. Perinatal complications seem to mediate some of this (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Pediatrics
volume
8
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000264324100001
  • scopus:56849121816
  • pmid:18973666
ISSN
1471-2431
DOI
10.1186/1471-2431-8-49
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bef1aa00-9f23-4c7c-9424-e4e2ef7b49a9 (old id 1399338)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:42:55
date last changed
2022-01-27 20:37:21
@article{bef1aa00-9f23-4c7c-9424-e4e2ef7b49a9,
  abstract     = {{Background: There is a controversy regarding the existence of a socio-economic gradient for cerebral palsy. Perinatal emergencies and preterm birth increase the risk for the offspring to develop cerebral palsy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of socio-economic indicators with cerebral palsy (CP) and the role of perinatal health as mediator of this association. Methods: Register study of a national cohort of 805,543 children born 1987-93, including 1,437 children with cerebral palsy that were identified in hospital discharge data from national registers. Socio-economic indicators of the household were taken from the Census of 1985. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses of linearity were used to test hypotheses. Results: There was a linear association between the incidence of CP (excluding cases caused by registered injuries or malformations) as well as of major perinatal indicators and the socioeconomic status (SES) of the household of the mother (p &lt; 0.001). Children in households with low SES had a higher odds ratio of CP ( OR 1.49 [95% C.I. 1.16-1.91]) compared with high SES after adjustment for demographic confounders. This OR decreased to 1.36 (1.05-1.71) after adjustment for perinatal indicators with preterm birth as the most important mediating variable. Conclusion: This study suggests that there is a continuous socio-economic gradient for CP in Sweden. Further studies in more complete populations of children with cerebral palsy are needed to confirm this. Perinatal complications seem to mediate some of this}},
  author       = {{Hjern, Anders and Thorngren-Jerneck, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{1471-2431}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Pediatrics}},
  title        = {{Perinatal complications and socio-economic differences in cerebral palsy in Sweden - a national cohort study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-8-49}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1471-2431-8-49}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}