Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114718

Joann Petrini, PhD, MPH, Perinatal Data Center, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 1275 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains, NY 10605, 914-997-4515, jpetrini@marchofdimes.com, Russell S. Kirby, PhD, MS, Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 320 Ryals Building, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, Charlotte Druschel, MD, Bureau of Environmental & Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, 547 River Street, Room 200, Troy, NY 12180, Robert Meyer, PhD, State Center for Health Statistics, North Carolina, 1908 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1908, Lowell E. Sever, PhD, Division of Epidemiology, The University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, 1200 Herman Pressler, Suite E603, Houston, TX 77030, Samara Viner-Brown, MS, Division of Family Health, Rhode Island Department of Health, 3 Capitol Hill, Room 302, Providence, RI 02908, Francis Ayodele Obuseh, MSc, MPH, Department of Maternal and Child Health School, School of Public Health University of Alabama at Birmingham, 320 Ryals Building, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, Cara Mai, MPH, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-86, Atlanta, GA 30333, and Larry Edmonds, MSPH, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmenal Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, 4770 buford Highway, NE, MS F-45, Atlanta, GA 30341.

Each year, more than 150,000 babies are born with birth defects and nearly half a million are born preterm. While some regional studies have suggested that infants born preterm are more likely than full term infants to have birth defects, no multi-state analysis has been conducted to assess the association between these outcomes. The purpose of this study was to quantify the overlap between birth defects and preterm birth for a sample of births in the US. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on preterm birth and birth defects of infants delivered in 13 state population-based birth defects surveillance programs from 1995-2000. This covered approximately 25% of the births in the US in each calendar year.

A total of 277,090 cases were analyzed after the exclusion of those with birth defects that are normal variants among preterm infants (5.4%). The overall prevalence of birth defects for these states was 4.2%. Preliminary results show a reverse J-shaped association between gestational age and birth defects prevalence. While the prevalence of birth defects among term liveborns (37-39 weeks) was 368.6/10,000, corresponding rates were 597.3 for 32-36 weeks, 1238.8 for 28-31 weeks, and 1450.9 for 17-27 weeks gestation live births, respectively. Additional analyses examining patterns in these rates by race/ethnicity, maternal age, parity, plurality, and specific birth defects will also be discussed. The higher birth defect rates for infants born preterm highlights the importance of identifying shared risk factors and appropriate interventions that can be targeted to help reduce these adverse birth outcomes.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session attendees will be able to

• Quantify the proportion of preterm infants that have birth defects.
• Identify shared risk factors and prevention strategies for preterm birth and birth defects.

Keywords: Birth Defects, Infant Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.