Prevalence of Congenital Anomalies According to Maternal Race and Ethnicity, Texas, 1999–2018

Authors

Jeremy M Schraw
Elwin Jaime
Charles J Shumate
Mark A Canfield
Philip J Lupo

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Journal

Birth Defects Research

DOI

10.1002/bdr2.2274

PMID

38014617

PMCID

PMC10872311

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

1-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Female, Humans, Ethnicity, Hispanic or Latino, Prevalence, Texas, White, Black or African American, Congenital Abnormalities, Racial Groups, birth defects, congenital anomalies, epidemiology, disparities, PheWAS, phenome-wide association study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few studies of congenital anomalies provide prevalence estimates stratified by maternal race/ethnicity. We sought to determine whether the prevalence of a broad spectrum of anomalies varies among offspring of women from different race/ethnic groups.

METHODS: We obtained information on cases with anomalies from the population-based Texas Birth Defects Registry, and denominator data on livebirths among Texas residents during 1999-2018 from the Texas Center for Health Statistics. We estimated the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of N = 145 anomalies among offspring of Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black relative to non-Hispanic White women using Poisson regression, adjusting for maternal age, education, body mass index, and previous livebirths. We performed a two-stage analysis with a Bonferroni-adjusted p < 1.7 × 10

RESULTS: There were 7,698,768 livebirths and 1,187,385 anomalies diagnosed in 368,393 cases. The prevalence of any monitored congenital anomaly was similar among offspring of non-Hispanic White (referent), non-Hispanic Black (PR 0.98, CI 0.96-1.00), and Hispanic (PR 0.95, CI 0.93-0.96) women. We observed statistically significant racial/ethnic variation for 42 anomalies. Marked differences were observed when comparing offspring of non-Hispanic Black to non-Hispanic White women with respect to polydactyly (PR 4.38, CI 4.07-4.72), pyloric stenosis (PR 0.34, CI 0.29-0.40), and aortic valve atresia/stenosis (PR 0.51, CI 0.36-0.72).

CONCLUSIONS: Birth prevalence of many major congenital anomalies varies by maternal race and ethnicity. While the reasons for these differences are likely multifactorial, a thorough understanding of racial and ethnic disparities is useful to stimulate etiologic research.