Skip to main content
PMC home page
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2003 Mar 1;94(2):88–92. doi: 10.1007/BF03404578

Is Paternal Age Associated with an Increased Risk of Low Birthweight, Preterm Delivery, and Multiple Birth?

Suzanne C Tough 12,22,✉, Alexandra J Faber 22, Lawrence W Svenson 32, David W Johnston 22
PMCID: PMC6979898  PMID: 12675162

Abstract

Objective: To determine if paternal age elevates the risk of low birthweight (<2500g, LBW), preterm birth (< 37 weeks gestation), and multiple gestation among mothers whose age does not predict an elevated risk.

Design/Methods: Population data on birth outcome, maternal age and paternal age was obtained from Alberta Health and Wellness for all births 1990–1996.

Results: Among women aged 25 to 29, regardless of parity, there was no linear relationship between paternal age and preterm birth or LBW. However, multiple birth rates increased with increased paternal age (p<0.01). Among singleton births, advanced paternal age (>50 years) increased the risk of LBW and preterm birth (p≤0.05).

Conclusions: Paternal age is not a risk factor for LBW or preterm delivery among low risk women. The increased risk of multiple birth with increased paternal age, regardless of parity, requires confirmation among other populations.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements: Funding was received from Alberta Health and Wellness and Calgary Health Region. We thank Alberta Health and Wellness for access to the provincial data set.

References

  • 1.Alberta Health. Health Trends in Alberta: A Working Document. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Health; 1998. [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Center for Health Economic Research. Access to Health Care: Key Indicators for Policy. Princeton, NJ: The Robert Wood Foundation; 1993. [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Papiernik E, Bouyer J, Dreyfus J, Collin D, Winisdorffer G, Guegen S e al. Prevention of preterm births: A perinatal study in Haguenau, France. Pediatrics. 1985;76:154–58. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.United Nations. Demographic Year Books. 1985–1989. New York, NY: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office, United Nations; 1989. [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Tough S, Svenson L, Schopflocher D. Maternal Risk Factors in Relationship to Birth Outcome. Health Surveillance, Alberta Health and Wellness. 1999. pp. 16–21. [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Moutquin JM, Milot-Roy V, Irion O. Preterm birth prevention: Effectiveness of current strategies. J SOGC. 1996;18:571–88. doi: 10.1016/S0849-5831(16)30300-7. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Goldenberg RL, Rouse DJ. Prevention of premature birth. N Engl J Med. 1998;339:313–20. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199807303390506. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Krueger PM, Scholl TO. Adequacy of prenatal care and pregnancy outcome. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2000;100:485–92. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Campaign 2000. Child Poverty in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada; 1996. [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Kernoff MP, McCool W. Toward a better understanding of the ‘advanced maternal age’ factor. Health Care for Women International. 1989;10:395–415. doi: 10.1080/07399338909515863. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Naeye RL. Maternal age, obstetric complications, and the outcome of pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 1983;61:210–16. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Goldenberg RL, Gotlieb SJ. Social and psychological factors and pregnancy outcome. In: Merkatz IR, Cherry SH, editors. Rovinsky and Guttmacher’s Medical Compilation of Pregnancy: Medical Surgical, Gynecologic, Psychosocial, and Perinatal. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1991. pp. 80–96. [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Dunger DB, Ong KK, Huxtable SJ, Sherriff A, Woods KA, Ahmed M e al. Association of the INS VNTR with size at birth. ALSPAC Study Team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Nat Genet. 1998;19:98–100. doi: 10.1038/ng0598-98. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Ong KK, Phillips DI, Fall C, Poulton J, Bennett ST, Golding J. The insulin gene VNTR, type 2 diabetes and birth weight. Nat Genet. 1999;21:262–63. doi: 10.1038/6775. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Hattersley AT, Beards F, Ballantyne E, Appleton M, Harvey R, Ellard S. Mutations in the glucokinase gene of the fetus result in reduced birth weight. Nat Genet. 1998;19:268–70. doi: 10.1038/953. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Casteels K, Ong K, Phillips D, Bendall H, Pembrey M. Mitochondrial 16189 variant, thinness at birth, and type-2 diabetes. ALSPAC study team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Lancet. 1999;353:1499–500. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)05817-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Wang Z, Sauve RS. Assessment of postneonatal growth in VLBW infants: Selection of growth references and age adjustment for prematurity. Can J Public Health. 1998;89:109–14. doi: 10.1007/BF03404400. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Kramer MS. Determinants of low birth weight: Methodological assessment and meta-analysis. Bull World Health Organ. 1987;65:663–737. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Zhu BP, Haines KM, Le T, McGrath-Miller K, Boulton ML. Effect of the interval between pregnancies on perinatal outcomes among white and black women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2001;185:1403–10. doi: 10.1067/mob.2001.118307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Shults RA, Arndt V, Olshan AF, Martin CF, Royce RA. Effects of short interpregnancy intervals on small-for-gestational age and preterm births. Epidemiology. 1999;10:250–54. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199905000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Klebanoff MA, Mednick BR, Schulsinger C, Secher NJ, Shiono PH. Father’s effect on infant birth weight. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1998;178:1022–26. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9378(98)70542-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Wilcox MA, Newton CS, Johnson IR. Paternal influences on birthweight. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1995;74:15–18. doi: 10.3109/00016349509009936. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Jonson HC. Report on the Health of Albertans. Edmonton, AB: Health Surveillance, Alberta Health; 1996. [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Committee to Study the Prevention of Low Birth Weight Division of Health PromotionDisease Prevention, Institute of Medicine. Preventing Low Birth Weight. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1985. [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Brooten D, Gennaro S, Knapp H, Brown L, York R. Clinical specialist pre- and postdischarge teaching of parents of very low birth weight infants. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 1989;18:316–22. doi: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.1989.tb01625.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Gennaro S, Zukowsky K, Brooten D, Lowell L, Visco A. Concerns of mothers of low birthweight infants. Pediatr Nurs. 1990;16:459–62. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Robertson CM, Svenson LW, Joffres MR. Prevalence of cerebral palsy in Alberta. Can J Neurol Sci. 1998;25:117–22. doi: 10.1017/S0317167100033710. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Robertson C, Sauve RS, Christianson HE. Province-based study of neurologic disability among survivors weighing 500 through 1249 grams at birth. Pediatrics. 1994;93:636–40. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.McCormick MC. Has the prevalence of handicapped infants increased with improved survival of the very low birth weight infant? Clin Perinatol. 1993;20:263–77. doi: 10.1016/S0095-5108(18)30423-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Tough SC, Greene CA, Svenson LW, Belik J. Effects of in vitro fertilization on low birth weight, preterm delivery, and multiple birth. J Pediatr. 2000;136:618–22. doi: 10.1067/mpd.2000.105132. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Tough SC. Unpublished analysis of the Regional Fertility Program Data Base. 2001. [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Olshan AF, Ananth CV, Savitz DA. Intrauterine growth retardation as an endpoint in mutation epidemiology: An evaluation based on paternal age. Mutat Res. 1995;344:89–94. doi: 10.1016/0165-1218(95)90043-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Parker JD, Schoendorf KC. Influence of paternal characteristics on the risk of low birth weight. Am J Epidemiol. 1992;136:399–407. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116512. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Schwartz D, Mayaux MJ, Spira A, Moscato ML, Jouannet P, Czyglik F e al. Semen characteristics as a function of age in 833 fertile men. Fertil Steril. 1983;39:530–35. doi: 10.1016/S0015-0282(16)46946-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35.Friedman JM. Genetic disease in the offspring of older fathers. Obstet Gynecol. 1981;57:745–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Auroux M. Évolution de la fertilité masculine en fonction de l’âge et risque pour la progéniture. Contracept Fertil Sex. 1991;19:945–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Auroux M. Age of the father and development. Contracept Fertil Sex. 1993;21:382–85. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Auroux MR, Mayaux MJ, Guihard-Moscato ML, Fromantin M, Barthe J, Schwartz D. Paternal age and mental functions of progeny in man. Hum Reprod. 1989;4:794–97. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.humrep.a136988. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 39.Tough SC, Newburn-Cook C, Johnston DW, Svenson LW, Rose S, Belik J. Delayed childbearing and its impact on population rate changes in lower birth weight, multiple birth, and preterm delivery. Pediatrics. 2002;109:399–403. doi: 10.1542/peds.109.3.399. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES