Factors Associated With Infant Sex and Preterm Birth Status for Selected Birth Defects From the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2011

Authors

Eva M Williford
Wei Yang
Meredith M Howley
Chen Ma
Ronnie T Collins
Kari A Weber
Dominique Heinke
Julie M Petersen
A J Agopian
Natalie P Archer
Andrew F Olshan
Lindsay A Williams
Marilyn L Browne
Gary M Shaw

Language

English

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Journal

Birth Defects Research

DOI

10.1002/bdr2.2294

PMID

38155422

PMCID

PMC11561737

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-14-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Background: Birth defects and preterm birth co-occur, with some overlapping risk factors. Many birth defects and preterm births tend to have a male preponderance. We explored potential risk factors impacting sex and preterm (< 37 weeks of gestation) birth differences among infants with selected birth defects delivered from 1997 to 2011 using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS).

Methods: The NBDPS was a large multisite, population-based case-control study. Using random forests, we identified important predictors of male preterm, female preterm, and male term, each compared with female term births for each birth defect. Using logistic regression, we estimated odds ratios for associations between important predictors and sex-preterm birth status by birth defect.

Results: We examined 11,379 infants with nine specific birth defects. The top 10 most important predictors of sex-preterm birth status from the random forests varied greatly across the birth defects and sex-preterm comparisons within a given defect group, with several being novel factors. However, one consistency was that short interpregnancy interval was associated with sex-preterm birth status for many of the studied birth defects. Although obesity has been identified as a risk factor for preterm birth and birth defects in other research, it was not associated with sex-preterm birth status for any of the examined defects.

Conclusions: We confirmed expected associations for sex-preterm birth status differences and found new potential risk factors for further exploration among the studied birth defects.

Keywords

Infant, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Female, Premature Birth, Case-Control Studies, Logistic Models, birth defects, preterm birth, random forests, sex

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Williford, Eva M; Yang, Wei; Howley, Meredith M; et al., "Factors Associated With Infant Sex and Preterm Birth Status for Selected Birth Defects From the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2011" (2024). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 1125.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthsph_docs/1125