TABLE 1.
General characteristics of the study population of case mothers (COD offspring) and control mothers (offspring without congenital defects)
|
Case mothers n = 306 |
Control mothers n = 424 |
Missings | p‐value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Maternal age, years a | 31.8 (4.7) | 30.9 (4.6) | 1 | .009 |
| Time after index pregnancy, months | 16.2 [15.2, 17.9] | 16.3 [15.3, 18.0] | 1 | .79 |
| Mode of conception, spontaneous | 289 (94.4) | 401 (94.6) | 1 | .82 |
| Body mass index, [kg/m2] | 24.0 [22.0, 28.0] | 24.0 [22.0, 27.0] | 1 | .25 |
| Education level | ||||
| Low | 86 (28.1) | 93 (22.1) | 3 | .02 |
| Intermediate | 126 (41.2) | 216 (51.3) | ||
| High | 94 (30.7) | 112 (26.6) | ||
| Geographic origin | ||||
| Western | 270 (88.2) | 356 (84.2) | 1 | .15 |
| Non‐Western | 36 (11.8) | 67 (15.8) | ||
| Mother with COD | 8 (2.6) | 4 (0.9) | 0 | .15 |
| Family history of COD | 43 (14.1) | 31 (7.3) | 0 | .009 |
| Lifestyle | ||||
| Periconception use of (n (%)) | ||||
| Alcohol | 113 (36.9) | 138 (32.5) | 4 | .51 |
| Cigarettes | 57 (18.6) | 87 (20.5) | 0 | .56 |
| Folic acid and/or (multi)vitamins | 254 (83.0) | 339 (80.1) | 0 | .38 |
| Current use of (n (%)) | ||||
| Alcohol | 157 (51.3) | 233 (55.0) | 1 | .47 |
| Cigarettes | 53 (17.3) | 78 (18.4) | 2 | .57 |
| Folic acid and/or (multi)vitamins | 83 (27.1) | 107 (25.3) | 0 | .64 |
| Biomarkers | ||||
| Vitamine B12, serum (pmol/L) | 277.5 [209.5, 361.8] | 260.0 [201.0, 357.5] | 0 | .36 |
| Plasma total homocysteine, plasma, (μmol/L) | 10.1 [8.4, 12.5] | 9.7 [8.2, 11.8] | 0 | .05 |
| Folate, serum (nmol/L) | 15.2 [12.4, 19.4] | 14.70 [12.2, 19.6] | 0 | .37 |
| Folate, red blood cell (nmol/L) | 659 [529, 802] | 634 [521, 769] | 0 | .36 |
| Birth outcomes | ||||
| Foetal gender, boys | 173 (56.5) | 234 (55.2) | 0 | .78 |
| Birthweight | 3290 [2850, 3650] | 3500 [3200, 3890] | 1 | <.001 |
| Preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) | 48 (15.8) | 24 (5.7) | 4 | <.001 |
Abbreviation; COD, congenital outflow defects.
a
Presented as mean (SD). Data are presented as median [IQR] or number of individuals (proportions).