Table 1.
Characteristics of pregnant case and control participants1
| Characteristic
|
Anencephaly (n 25)2
|
Spina Bifida (n 34)
|
Other NTDs (n 5)3
|
Total Cases (n 64)
|
Control (n 207)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal age (yrs) | 26.2 (24.0,31.4) | 27.7 (24.0,33.0) | 28.5 (20.0,33.5) | 26.8 (24.0, 32.6) | 28.1 (24.4,33.0) |
| Median weeks gestation at sampling | 14.3 (12.4,17.9) | 14.4 (11.7,19.5) | 12.7 (10.0,18.6) | 14.3 (12.3, 19.1) | 14.9 (11.9, 20.4) |
| Iron supplements at blood test n (%)4 | |||||
| Yes | 2 (8.0) | 3 (8.8) | 0 (0) | 5 (7.8) | 13 (6.3) |
| No | 22 (88.0) | 28 (82.4) | 5 (100) | 55 (85.9) | 156 (75.4) |
| Possible | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 16 (7.7) |
| No information | 1 (4.0) | 3 (8.8) | 0 (0) | 4 (6.3) | 22 (10.6) |
| Folate or other vitamin supplements at blood test n (%)4 | |||||
| Yes | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| No | 24 (96.0) | 31 (91.2) | 5 (100) | 60 (93.7) | 185 (89.4) |
| No information | 1 (4.0) | 3 (8.8) | 0 (0) | 4 (6.3) | 22 (10.6) |
| Any medication at blood test n (%)4 | 0 | 3 (9.7) | 0 | 3 (4.7) | 8 (4.3) |
1
Values are medians (inter-quartile range);
2
Anencephaly only or anencephaly + spina bifida;
3
Encephalocele only or iniencephaly only or iniencephaly + spina bifida or iniencephaly + spina bifida + anencephaly;
4
Information taken from hospital charts