 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Dorothy Kim Waller, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, RAS W-210, 1200 Herman Pressler Drive, Houston, TX 77030, (713)500-9155, kwaller@sph.uth.tmc.edu
Introduction: Eight studies have observed that obese women have an approximately 2-fold increase in the risk of having a child with a spina bifida or anencephaly after controlling for maternal age, ethnicity and pre-existing diabetes. Single studies have reported that obese women have an increased risk of offspring with isolated hydrocephaly or encephalocele. Given the increase in obesity in the U.S., it is important to better understand the association between this risk factor and the occurrence of birth defects of the central nervous system.
Objectives: This study will assess the association between maternal obesity and central nervous system defects including hydrocephaly and encephalocele. It will also determine if associations between maternal obesity and specific malformations of the central nervous system are modified by first trimester maternal fever or periconceptional intake of folic acid or multivitamins.
Methods: Analyses will be presented using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multi-site case-control study. Information on maternal exposures were collected using a computer assisted telephone interview. Analysis will include approximately 139 case-infants with anencephaly, 239 case-infants with spina bifida, 261 case-infants with hydrocephaly, 66 case-infants with encephalocele and 2599 control-infants. Stratified analyses and multivariable analyses will be performed, adjusting for maternal ethnicity, age, education and family income. Effect modification will be defined as present when the joint effects of two exposures are greater than individual effects measured on an additive scale.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.