The NINFEA cohort is an Italian birth cohort aiming at recruiting pregnant women through the Internet and following-up their
children. To understand whether Internet-based recruitment was feasible we started a pilot in July 2005 targeted to pregnant
women visiting the hospitals of the city of Turin (900,000 inhabitants), where we advertised the study. For this purpose we
constructed a website (www.progettoninfea.it), with on-line questionnaires to be completed during pregnancy and at 6 and 18 months
after delivery. Participants’ characteristics were compared with those of women giving birth in Turin, which are routinely
released as individual anonymous records. We also compared complete with partial respondents. We also carried out a survey
of 122 women giving birth in the main Turin obstetric hospital to estimate the proportion of pregnant women with access to
the Internet and awareness of the NINFEA cohort. By December 2006, we had recruited 670 women. Participation was associated
with being older, a university graduate, primiparous and born in Italy. Complete response (n = 633) was associated with being primiparous and participation after the first trimester. In the survey, 66% (95% confidence
interval: 56–74%; n = 80) of the women had access to the Internet and 42% (33–51%; n = 51) were aware of the study; 6.5% (2.9–12.5%; n = 8) had participated in the NINFEA cohort. Our study indicates that recruitment of an Internet-based birth cohort is feasible.
As with many other types of birth cohort study, the participants are a self-selected sample. To minimise selection bias analyses
should therefore be limited to internal comparisons. 相似文献
Epidemiological studies have hypothesized that both insufficient and excess blood manganese (Mn) levels during pregnancy are associated with reduced fetal growth. This literature is characterized by inconsistent results and a limited focus on women with exposures representative of the general North American population. We examined the relationship between maternal and cord blood Mn levels and fetal growth among women enrolled in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals Study (MIREC). Mothers with singleton, term infants and complete maternal first and third trimester blood Mn data were eligible for inclusion in the present study (n?=?1519). Mean birth weight and odds ratios of small for gestational age (SGA) births according to maternal and cord blood Mn levels (low (<10), referent (10–<90), high (≥90) percentiles) were estimated. We also evaluated the association between the ratio of cord and maternal blood Mn and birth weight. Women with low (<0.82?μg/dL) maternal blood third trimester Mn levels had infants that weighed an average of 64.7?g (95% CI: ?142.3,12.8) less than infants born to women in the referent exposure group. This association was strengthened and became statistically significant when adjusted for toxic metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium) [?83.3?g (95% CI: ?162.4, ?4.1)]. No statistically significant associations were observed in models of maternal first trimester or cord blood Mn. A one unit increase in the cord/maternal blood Mn ratio was associated with a 29.4?g (95% CI: ?50.2, ?8.7), when adjusted for maternal and neonatal characteristics. Our findings motivate additional research regarding the relation between Mn exposure and fetal growth. Further inquiry is necessary to determine whether an exposure threshold exists, how growth related effects of maternal and fetal Mn may differ, and how concurrent exposure to other toxic metals may impact the association between Mn and growth. 相似文献
A life course perspective is used to explore the effects of divorce and widowhood on self-rated health across age and birth cohorts. Growth curve analysis of a fifteen-year longitudinal survey--Americans' Changing Lives (ACL), conducted by the Institute for Social Research in the United States between 1986 and 2001 (House, 2002) suggests that although the continuously divorced and widowed exhibit similar health trajectories as the continuously married across age and birth cohorts, there are significant age and birth cohort differences in the effects of transitions to divorce and widowhood on self-rated health. Specifically, the health penalty of the transition to divorce is more apparent for the 1950s than the 1940s birth cohort; and it is stronger at younger than older adulthood especially in the more recent birth cohort. The health penalty of the transition to widowhood is more apparent for the 1910s than the 1920s birth cohort; and it is stronger at older than younger adulthood especially for the earlier birth cohort. These results reflect birth cohort differences in the process of aging and/or in the experience of marital dissolution. 相似文献
Background: Reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes may be improved if the reproductive risk assessment is moved from the antenatal to the preconception period. Primary care has been highlighted as an ideal setting to offer preconception assessment, yet the effectiveness in this setting is still unclear.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of preconception interventions on improving reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes in primary care.
Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsycINFO databases were searched from July 1999 to the end of July 2015. Only interventional studies with a comparator were included, analysed and appraised systematically, taking into consideration the similarities and differences of the participants, the nature of interventions and settings.
Results: Eight randomized controlled trials were eligible. Preconception interventions involved multifactorial or single reproductive health risk assessment, education and counselling and the intensity ranged from brief, involving a single session within a day to intensive, involving more than one session over several weeks. Five studies recruited women planning a pregnancy. Four studies involved multifactorial risks interventions; two were brief and the others were intensive. Four studies involved single risk intervention, addressing folate or alcohol. There was some evidence that both multifactorial and single risk interventions improved maternal knowledge; self-efficacy and health locus of control; and risk behaviour, irrespective of whether brief or intensive. There was no evidence to support reduced adverse pregnancy outcomes. One study reported no undue anxiety. The quality of the studies was moderate to poor.
Conclusion: The evidence from eligible studies is limited to inform future practice in primary care. Nevertheless, this review has highlighted that women who received preconception education and counselling were more likely to have improved knowledge, self-efficacy and health locus of control and risk behaviour. More studies are needed to evaluate the effects on adverse pregnancy outcomes. 相似文献
We evaluated the association between indicators of fetal growth and hospitalization with infectious disease during childhood in a cohort of 10,400 newborns. The cohort was based on children born to mothers who at about 36 weeks of gestation attended the midwife centres in Odense and Aalborg, Denmark for a routine examination. Women were recruited to the study from April 1984 to April 1987. After linkage with the National Hospital Registry, the first hospitalization with infectious disease from 6 months up to 12 years of age was identified. The cumulative incidence of hospitalization with infectious disease during follow-up was 18.9%. Preterm birth was associated with an increased risk of being hospitalized with infections during childhood (incidence rate ratio: 1.67,95% CI: 1.33–2.10); low birth weight had a similar association, but only in preterm birth. Reduced birth length related to the head was correlated with an increased risk of hospitalization with infections. The effect of gestational age was mainly seen in the period close to the time of birth, but the children who were short at birth appeared to remain at increased risk throughout the age interval under analysis. In conclusion, the study suggests that preterm birth was the main factor underlying the association between low birth weight and the increased risk of hospitalization with infectious disease during childhood. However, it could not explain the increased risk in children who were short at birth. 相似文献