American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on November 27, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(3):262-270; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm316
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Gestational Age, Birth Weight, Intrauterine Growth, and the Risk of Epilepsy
1 Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
2 Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Shanghai, China
3 Department of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
4 National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
5 Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
6 Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
7 Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC
8 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Correspondence to Yuelian Sun, Department of Epidemiology, University of Aarhus, Vennelyst Boulevard 6, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark (e-mail: ys{at}soci.au.dk).
Received for publication June 19, 2007. Accepted for publication September 24, 2007.
The authors evaluated the association between gestational age, birth weight, intrauterine growth, and epilepsy in a population-based cohort of 1.4 million singletons born in Denmark (1979–2002). A total of 14,334 inpatients (1979–2002) and outpatients (1995–2002) with epilepsy were registered in the Danish National Hospital Register. Children who were potentially growth restricted were identified through two methods: 1) sex-, birth-order-, and gestational-age-specific z score of birth weight; and 2) deviation from the expected birth weight estimated based on the birth weight of an older sibling. The incidence rates of epilepsy increased consistently with decreasing gestational age and birth weight. The incidence rate ratios of epilepsy in the first year of life were more than fivefold among children born at 22–32 weeks compared with 39–41 weeks and among children whose birth weight was <2,000 g compared with 3,000–3,999 g. The association was modified by age but remained into early adulthood. Incidence rate ratios of epilepsy were increased among children identified as growth restricted according to either of the two methods. In conclusion, short gestational age, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction are associated with an increased risk of epilepsy.
birth weight; Denmark; epilepsy; follow-up studies; infant, small for gestational age; premature birth; siblings
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; IRR, incidence rate ratio
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