Premium
Parental age at delivery, birth order, birth weight and gestational age are associated with the risk of childhood Type 1 diabetes: a UK regional retrospective cohort study
Author(s) -
Cardwell C. R.,
Carson D. J.,
Patterson C. C.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2005.01369.x
Subject(s) - medicine , birth order , birth weight , gestational age , gestational diabetes , cohort , diabetes mellitus , cohort study , pediatrics , type 2 diabetes , population , obstetrics , retrospective cohort study , relative risk , firstborn , small for gestational age , pregnancy , demography , gestation , endocrinology , confidence interval , environmental health , biology , genetics , sociology
Aims To investigate perinatal risk factors for childhood Type 1 diabetes in a UK population cohort. Methods Perinatal data have been routinely recorded in Northern Ireland for all births in the period 1971–86 ( n = 447 663). Diabetes status at the age of 15 years was ascertained in this cohort by identifying 991 children from 1079 registered with Type 1 diabetes diagnosed from 1971 to 2001 and date of birth in the period 1971–86. Results Increased Type 1 diabetes risk was associated with higher maternal age, paternal age, birth weight and birth weight for gestational and lower gestational age. After adjustment for maternal age, the association between Type 1 diabetes and paternal age remained significant [relative risk (RR) = 1.52 (1.10, 2.09) comparing father's age 35 years or more to less than 25 years] but not vice versa [RR = 1.11 (0.80, 1.54) comparing mother's age 35 years or more to less than 25 years]. Increased birth order was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of Type 1 diabetes [adjusted RR = 0.75 (0.62, 0.90) comparing birth order three or more with firstborn], but this only became apparent when adjustment was made for maternal age. Furthermore this association with birth order was significant only for diabetes diagnosed under the age of 5 years. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates, for the first time in a UK regional cohort setting, that maternal age and paternal age at delivery, birth order, birth weight and gestational age are significantly associated with Type 1 diabetes risk.