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Periconceptional Multivitamin Supplementation Containing Folic Acid and Sex Ratio at Birth in a Chinese Population: a Prospective Cohort Study
Author(s) -
Zheng Xiaoying,
Pei Lijun,
Chen Gong,
Song Xinming,
Wu Jilei,
Ji Ying
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/ppe.12192
Subject(s) - multivitamin , medicine , pregnancy , obstetrics , prospective cohort study , confidence interval , population , relative risk , gynecology , cohort study , abortion , vitamin , environmental health , genetics , biology
Background To determine whether periconceptional use of multivitamin supplements containing folic acid increases the occurrence of male births in a Chinese population. Methods A prospective cohort study was carried out in 18 counties in four provinces of C hina. Participants were naturally and voluntarily divided into an intervention group (who took a multivitamin pill containing folic acid, n = 25 418) and a control group (who did not take any multivitamin, n = 26 580). Multivitamin supplements containing folic acid was ascertained before pregnancy. Pregnant women were followed through the first trimester of pregnancy and the outcome of pregnancy (i.e. livebirth, stillbirth, or fetal death; sex at birth) was recorded. Results A total of 52 043 pregnancies and 51 998 births were recorded between S eptember 2000 and A ugust 2002. The proportion of males born to women who did and did not take the multivitamin were 54.8% ( n = 13 935) and 54.0% ( n = 11 483), respectively. The male to female sex ratios at birth among women who did and did not take the multivitamin were 117:100 and 121:100, respectively. The risk ratio was 1.03 [95% confidence interval 0.99, 1.06] after adjusting for confounding factors. Conclusions These findings suggest that periconceptional multivitamin supplementation containing folic acid is not associated with an increased likelihood of male births in a C hinese population. However, these results may have been affected by induced abortion or selective termination of pregnancy, and the findings must therefore be cautiously interpreted.