Periconceptional maternal fever, folic acid intake, and the risk for neural tube defects

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Ann Epidemiol
• Personal Author:
  Kerr, Stephen M. ; Parker, Samantha E. ; Mitchell, Allen A. ; Tinker, Sarah C. ; Werler, Martha M.
• Description:
  Purpose
  
  Previous studies have shown an association between maternal fever in early pregnancy and neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida. Periconceptional folic acid intake has been shown to reduce the risk of these outcomes.
  
  Methods
  
  Using data from the Slone Epidemiology Center Birth Defects Study (1998–2015), we examined the impact of folic acid on the relationship between maternal fever in the periconceptional period (28 days before and after the last menstrual period) and NTDs. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
  
  Results
  
  Mothers of 375 cases and 8247 nonmalformed controls were included. We observed an elevated risk for NTDs for fever in the periconceptional period (OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.5–4.0). This association was weaker for mothers who reported consuming the recommended amount of folic acid (≥ 400 μg per day; OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 0.8–4.0) than mothers with low folic acid intake (<400 μg per day; OR: 4.2; 95% CI: 2.2–8.2).
  
  Conclusions
  
  Our data support an association between maternal periconceptional fever and an increased risk for NTDs and also provide evidence that this association was attenuated for mothers who reported consuming folic acid at recommended levels in the periconceptional period.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Adult Case-Control Studies Female Fever Folic Acid Humans Mothers Neural Tube Defects Pregnancy Risk Factors Spina Bifida Spinal Dysraphism Vitamin B Complex Young Adult

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• Source:
  Ann Epidemiol. 27(12):777-782.e1
• Pubmed ID:
  29133009
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5824687
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD001184/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD001224/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; K01 HL133600/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD000697/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  12
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b982597636a7a184ef154b1f30a39b3b2eb7f4a79f1088ae40ca6ef42083ac1c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/52127/cdc_52127_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 87.21 KB ]