Dataset Information

Association of Birth Defects With Child Mortality Before Age 14 Years.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Causes of death in children with birth defects are poorly understood.

Objective

To determine mortality rates by cause of death in children with and without birth defects.

Design, setting, and participants

This longitudinal cohort study included a population-based sample of 1 037 688 children and was conducted in all hospitals in Quebec, Canada, with 7 700 596 person-years of follow-up between birth and age 14 years (April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2020).

Exposures

Presence or absence of a birth defect.

Main outcomes and measures

Outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were computed for the association between birth defects and mortality with Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for patient characteristics.

Results

Among the 1 037 688 children in the cohort, 95 566 had birth defects (56.5% boys). There were 532 542 boys in the cohort (51.3%), and mean (SD) age at the end of follow-up was 7.42 (3.72) years. There were 918 deaths among children with defects, and the mean (SD) age was 0.93 (2.07) years at death; there were 1082 deaths among the 942 122 children without defects, and the mean (SD) age at death was 0.50 (1.51) years. Mortality rates were higher for children with birth defects compared with no defect (1.3 vs 0.2 deaths per 1000 person-years, respectively). Girls (HR, 5.66; 95% CI, 4.96-6.47) and boys (HR, 4.69; 95% CI, 4.15-5.29) with birth defects had an elevated risk of death before 14 years compared with unaffected children. Birth defects were associated with mortality from circulatory (HR, 26.59; 95% CI, 17.73-39.87), respiratory (HR, 23.03; 95% CI, 15.09-35.14), and digestive causes (HR, 31.77; 95% CI, 11.87-85.04), but anomalies were rarely listed as the cause of death. Compared with children with no defect, those with birth defects were at greatest risk of death between 28 and 364 days of life.

Conclusions and relevance

This cohort study of 1 037 688 children suggests that birth defects were strongly associated with mortality owing to circulatory, respiratory, and digestive causes. This finding suggests that the contribution of birth defects may be underestimated in mortality statistics.

SUBMITTER: Sattolo ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9002336 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Association of Birth Defects With Child Mortality Before Age 14 Years.

Sattolo Marie-Laure ML Arbour Laura L Bilodeau-Bertrand Marianne M Lee Ga Eun GE Nelson Chantal C Auger Nathalie N

JAMA network open 20220401 4

<h4>Importance</h4>Causes of death in children with birth defects are poorly understood.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine mortality rates by cause of death in children with and without birth defects.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>This longitudinal cohort study included a population-based sample of 1 037 688 children and was conducted in all hospitals in Quebec, Canada, with 7 700 596 person-years of follow-up between birth and age 14 years (April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2020).<h4>Exposures ...[more]

PMID: 35404459

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Dataset Information

Association of Birth Defects With Child Mortality Before Age 14 Years.

Importance

Objective

Design, setting, and participants

Exposures

Main outcomes and measures

Results

Conclusions and relevance

Publications

Association of Birth Defects With Child Mortality Before Age 14 Years.

Similar Datasets

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