Open AccessTHE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW ZEALAND TWIN REGISTER
Author(s) -
Findlay John,
Kjellstrom Tord,
Veale Arthur
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
community health studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 0314-9021
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.1986.tb00098.x
Subject(s) - demography , epidemiology , multiple birth , medicine , register (sociolinguistics) , fetal death , twin study , geography , environmental health , pregnancy , biology , population , fetus , genetics , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , heritability
Summary Large‐scale twin registers have been used in several countries for epidemiological studies of chronic diseases. They make possible an analysis of the health effects of environmental factors while genetic factors are controlled. A twin register comprising all live nuptial non‐Maori twins born in 1926 to 1935 in New Zealand was developed. The total number of multiple births was 2765 (with 2750 twin births) giving a multiple birth ratio of 1.1 per cent of live births. About one third each of the twin pairs were mixed‐sex, male and female pairs. After a multi‐stage record search process 1998 pairs had been traced to an address or a death record and an additional 580 pairs had one twin traced. The neonatal mortality rate for the twins was about 8 per cent, much higher than the 2.4 per cent reported for all births in 1930. The current addresses of the twins were searched in electoral rolls and a total of 1428 pairs where both are alive have been located. It is planned to collect base‐line environmental exposure data with an internationally agreed questionnaire and to follow‐up the mortality of the twins in the future.