Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · Sep 2004
Revitalising the Metropolit 1953 Danish male birth cohort: background, aims and design.
Recent research indicates that factors operating during childhood are related to adult health. Thus, longitudinal studies with information on subsequent phases may be key to understanding later health outcomes. The main objective of this paper is to describe the history and design of a Danish birth cohort, and its revitalisation. ⋯ Analyses exploring the influence of social conditions in early life, birth dimensions, and childhood cognition on adult health experience are at various stages of completion. A questionnaire-based postal follow-up survey is planned. Thus, the Metropolit study provides an important opportunity to examine the processes by which factors that operate over the life course influence adult health.
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · May 2004
Early discharge: no evidence of adverse outcomes in three consecutive population-based Australian surveys of recent mothers, conducted in 1989, 1994 and 2000.
Length of postnatal hospital stay has declined dramatically since the 1970s, with ongoing controversy about potential harmful effects. Three population-based surveys of recent mothers conducted in the State of Victoria, Australia have been analysed to assess the impact of shorter length of stay on breast feeding and women's psychological well-being. Women giving birth in Victoria, Australia in 1 week in 1989, 2 weeks in 1993 and 2 weeks in 1999, excluding those who had a stillbirth or neonatal death, were mailed surveys 5-8 months postpartum. ⋯ These confidence intervals are compatible with a 30-40% reduction or a 30-40% increase in odds of depressive symptoms. Based on these findings shorter length of stay does not appear to have an adverse impact on breast feeding or women's emotional well-being. Testing early discharge policies in well-designed randomised trials remains a priority for developing stronger evidence to inform practice.
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · May 2004
The Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study: background, methods and follow-up information on a new resource for the study of life course and intergenerational influences on health.
In this paper we introduce and describe in detail an addition to the UK's population-based resources for the investigation of biological and social influences on health across the life course and between generations: the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study. We also provide an account of postwar Aberdeen when study members were growing up, report on findings of analyses of data from the original survey on which this study is based and its follow-up, assess the strengths and limitations of the study, and outline current and future research directions. This cohort comprises individuals born in Aberdeen, Scotland (UK) between 1950 and 1956, and is derived from 15 thousand subjects who took part in the Aberdeen Child Development Survey, a cross-sectional study of 'mental subnormality' (learning disability) in a population of all children who were attending Aberdeen primary schools in December 1962. ⋯ Linkages to hospital admissions and other health endpoints captured through the Scottish Morbidity Records system have been completed. This includes an intergenerational linkage to approximately eight thousand deliveries in Scotland occurring to female members of the study population. A postal questionnaire to all traced surviving cohort members has also been distributed.
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · Jan 2002
Comparative StudyChanging patterns of low birthweight and preterm birth in the United States, 1981-98.
Low birthweight (LBW) and preterm birth are primary risk factors for infant morbidity and mortality in the US. With increasing multiple births and delayed childbearing, it is important to examine the separate contributions of these characteristics to the increases in LBW and preterm birth rates. US natality records from 1981, 1990 and 1998 were used to calculate LBW (% births <1500, 1500-2499, <2500 g) and preterm (% births <29, 29-32, 33-36, <37 weeks gestation) rates. ⋯ Black infants continue to experience a markedly higher incidence of LBW and preterm birth, but the racial gap in these outcomes has narrowed slightly in recent years as a result of increasing LBW and preterm birth among white births. The differing trends for white and black infants are the consequence of a disparate trend in the incidence and outcome of multiple births coupled with increases in LBW and preterm birth among white singletons. Understanding the differential patterns in birth outcomes among white and black infants is necessary to develop effective interventions designed to decrease racial disparities in pregnancy outcome.