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Handedness in the Helsinki Ultrasound Trial
Author(s) -
Heikkilä K.,
Vuoksimaa E.,
Oksava K.,
SaariKemppainen A.,
Iivanainen M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.202
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1469-0705
pISSN - 0960-7692
DOI - 10.1002/uog.8962
Subject(s) - medicine , ultrasound , logistic regression , laterality , odds ratio , prenatal ultrasound , prenatal diagnosis , pregnancy , audiology , fetus , radiology , genetics , biology
Abstract Objectives To determine whether exposure to prenatal ultrasound increases non‐right‐handedness in boys. Methods The association between exposure to prenatal ultrasound and handedness was tested, using logistic regression analysis, in the Helsinki Ultrasound Trial data. We applied an intention‐to‐treat approach in this analysis of a subset of 4150 subjects whose parents answered a follow‐up questionnaire on handedness when the children were aged 13–15 years. Results The odds ratio for non‐right‐handedness of children who had been exposed to prenatal ultrasound was 1.16 (0.98–1.37) for all subjects, 1.12 (0.89–1.41) for boys and 1.24 (0.97–1.58) for girls. Conclusions We could not confirm the hypothesis that prenatal ultrasound exposure and handedness are associated. Our findings were independent of the particular definition of handedness used, whether it was considered according to the writing hand alone or defined using a laterality quotient. Copyright © 2011 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.