Effects of repeated courses of antenatal corticosteroids on somatic development in children 6 to 10 years of age.

This study assessed the effects of repeated courses of antenatal corticosteroids on biometric characteristics, salivary cortisol, and heart function in children 6 to 10 years of age using a retrospective cohort study. Twenty-nine children whose mothers had received two or more courses of antenatal corticosteroids were identified from hospital charts. Eighty-seven children whose mothers did not receive antenatal corticosteroids were frequency matched with the exposed group by child's age, sex, and ethnicity.

Occurrence and determinants of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole use in pregnancy.

Objective: To estimate the rate of prescription trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole use in pregnancy, and to analyse the association between maternal characteristics and use of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in pregnancy.

Methods: A population-based study was conducted based on a 50% random sample of women who gave a birth in Saskatchewan between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2000. The rate of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole use during pregnancy was estimated.

New-onset hypertension in late pregnancy and fetal growth: different associations between singletons and twins.

Objective: To compare the effects of new-onset hypertension (NOH) in late pregnancy on fetal growth in singletons and twins.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effect of NOH on fetal growth in 17, 720, 900 singletons and 463, 104 twins born in the United States between 1995 and 2000.

Results: NOH was associated with lower mean birth weight in both preterm and term singletons.

Fetal gender and postpartum depression in a cohort of Chinese women.

To examine the relationship between fetal gender and postpartum depression, we conducted a cohort study in Changsha, Hunan, China between September 2004 and January 2005. Women aged 18-40 years with their first live birth of a singleton infant who came to hospital for postpartum examination at 6 weeks after childbirth were invited to participate. Women with known psychiatric disorders or a history of psychiatric disorders were excluded.

Adherence to guidelines on the management of dystocia and cesarean section rates.

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC) guidelines on dystocia are being followed, and whether adherence to the guidelines is related to cesarean section rates. Data were extracted from a maternity database for nulliparous women with singleton, cephalic pregnancies at 37 or more completed weeks of gestation for a 4-year period. Patients delivered by elective cesarean section were excluded.

Women's satisfaction with the current state of prenatal care for pregnancies complicated by fetal anomalies: a survey of five academic perinatal units in Ontario.

Objective: To assess women's satisfaction with the current state of prenatal care for pregnancies complicated by congenital anomalies.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 251 women with pregnancies complicated by congenital anomalies. The women were recruited from five Ontario hospitals (Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, St.

Brief screening instrument of posttraumatic stress disorder for children and adolescents 7-15 years of age.

The objective of this paper is to develop a brief screening instrument of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for young victims of natural disasters. Data were derived from flood victims in 1998 and 1999 in Hunan, China. A representative population sample of 6,852 subjects 7-15 years of age was selected.

Teenage pregnancy and congenital anomalies: which system is vulnerable?

Background: Teenage pregnancy may be associated with some forms of congenital anomalies. The objective of this study was to identify the types of congenital anomalies associated with teenage pregnancy.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 5 542 861 nulliparous pregnant women younger than 35 years of age with a live singleton birth between 1995 and 2000 in the USA.

Adequacy of prenatal care and neonatal mortality in infants born to mothers with and without antenatal high-risk conditions.

Background: Previous studies have found that inadequate prenatal care was associated with increased neonatal mortality in the general pregnant women.

Aims: To examine the association between adequacy of prenatal care and neonatal mortality in the presence and absence of antenatal high-risk conditions.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of infants based on 1995-2000 vital statistics data in the USA.

Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based retrospective cohort study.

Background: Whether the association between teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes could be explained by deleterious social environment, inadequate prenatal care, or biological immaturity remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine whether teenage pregnancy is associated with increased adverse birth outcomes independent of known confounding factors.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 3,886,364 nulliparous pregnant women <25 years of age with a live singleton birth during 1995 and 2000 in the United States.

Obesity, high energy intake, lack of physical activity, and the risk of kidney cancer.

The authors conducted a population-based case-control study of 810 cases with histologically confirmed incident kidney cancer and 3,106 controls to assess the effect of obesity, energy intake, and recreational physical activity on renal cell and non-renal cell cancer risk in Canada from 1994 to 1997. Compared with normal body mass index (BMI; 18.5 to <25.

Relationship between intertwin delivery interval and metabolic acidosis in the second twin.

This study sought to assess the relationship between intertwin delivery interval (ITDI) and metabolic acidosis in the second twin at birth using a retrospective twin delivery cohort from a tertiary-level teaching hospital. Twin births were identified from an obstetrical database during a 10-year period from 1994 to 2004. Mean arterial cord pH and base deficit among different ITDIs were compared by analysis of variance.

Maternal age, paternal age and new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy.

Objective: To examine the association between maternal age, paternal age, and new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 9,302,675 pregnant women with live births in the United States between 1995 and 1998. Maternal and paternal ages were analyzed together using "couple age" in multivariate logistic regression models to reduce colinearity between maternal age and paternal age.

New-onset hypertension in late pregnancy is associated with lower fetal and infant mortality in preterm twins.

Objective: To assess the association between new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy (NOH) and fetal and infant mortality in early preterm, late preterm, and full-term twins.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in 275, 316 twins in 1995-1997 based on multiple birth registration dataset of USA. Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) was used to evaluate the odds ratios (OR) of fetal and infant death (at individual level) associated with NOH, with adjustment of potential confounders at both twin set level and individual level.

Impacts of operative delivery for the first twin on neonatal outcomes in the second twin.

We assess the impacts of operative delivery for the first twins with vertex presentation on neonatal outcomes in second twins using the 1995 to 1997 twin registry data of the United States. A total of 102,554 eligible twin pairs with vertex presentation for the first twin were included in the analysis. Of these, 50,748 (49.

The association between intratwin birthweight discordance and preterm birth in twin pregnancy.

Background: Previous studies found that increased birthweight discordance among twins was associated with increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity, but there is disagreement regarding the relationship between birthweight discordance and the risk of preterm birth.

Aims: To examine the relationship between intratwin birthweight discordance and preterm birth, and the influence of total birthweight as a confounding factor.

Methods: We conducted a historical cohort study to assess the relationship between intratwin birthweight discordance and preterm birth, using the 1995-1997 twin registry data of the USA.

Years of potential life lost in residents affected by floods in Hunan, China.

The potential life loss caused by floods has not been studied before. We carried out a retrospective cohort study in flood areas in Hunan, China in 1999. The standard mortality rate (SMR) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) were used to quantify the burden of flood on health.

An epidemiologic study of posttraumatic stress disorder in flood victims in Hunan China.

Objective: To estimate the occurrence and to assess the determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in flood victims.

Method: We carried out a retrospective study to examine the occurrence and the determinants of PTSD in victims of flood in 1998 and 1999 in Hunan, China. We used multistage sampling to select the subjects from the flood areas, and we ascertained PTSD according to DSM-IV criteria.

Prediction of intra-twin birth weight discordance by binary logistic regression analysis.

Aims: Identification of women at high risk of intra-twin birth weight discordance is helpful in obstetric care of these pregnancies. The aim of this study is to establish an intra-twin birth weight discordance prediction model.

Methods: We created an intra-twin birth weight discordance prediction model by logistic regression, based on the 1995-1997 register twin birth data of the USA.

Early prediction of preterm birth for singleton, twin, and triplet pregnancies.

Objectives: To create prediction models of early preterm birth for singletons, twin, and triplet pregnancies.

Study Design: We used a historical cohort study with the 1996 birth registration data for singletons and the 1995-1997 linked birth/infant death dataset for multiple births of the United States. Preterm birth was defined as gestational age <32 completed weeks.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in pregnancy.

Study Design: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 972 pregnant women who had been given at least 1 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor prescription in the year before delivery and 3878 pregnant women who did not receive selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and who were matched by the year of the infant's birth, the type of institute at birth, and the mother's postal code from 1990 to 2000 in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Results: The risks of low birth weight (adjusted odds ratio, 1.

Neonatal mortality and morbidity rates in term twins with advancing gestational age.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the gestational age with the lowest morbidity and mortality rates for twin pregnancies that reach term.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study carried out with 60,443 twin pairs from the United States (1995-1997). Analysis was restricted to pregnancies that had reached at least 37 weeks of gestation; groups were created on the basis of the gestational ages of 37, 38, 39, and > or = 40 weeks.

Maternal cigarette smoking and the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and eclampsia.

Background: Although previous studies have found that maternal smoking decreases the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), the difference of this effect between primiparous and multiparous women has not been well studied and the results of the exposure-response relationships between maternal smoking and PIH are inconsistent. No previous study has specifically examined the relationship between maternal smoking and eclampsia.

Methods: We analysed data from a population-based retrospective cohort study of 3 153 944 singleton pregnancies in the US.

Severe maternal morbidity in Canada, 1991-2001.

Background: Although death rates are often used to monitor the quality of health care, in industrialized countries maternal deaths have become rare. Severe maternal morbidity has therefore been proposed as a supplementary indicator for surveillance of the quality of maternity care. Our purpose in this study was to describe severe maternal morbidity in Canada over a 10-year period, among women with or without major pre-existing conditions.

Prediction of small for gestational age by logistic regression in twins.

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) is one of the major determinants of perinatal mortality and morbidity, and may relate in adult diseases. Early prediction of SGA could be helpful for health care providers and public health workers in guiding antenatal management and prevention. The reported methods of SGA prediction are not satisfactory because the diagnostic performance is poor and the interval between prediction and delivery is too short.