Preterm at birth is not associated with greater cardiovascular risk in adolescence

Objective: To determine the effects of preterm birth and gender on subsequent cardiovascular risk factors among urban adolescents in a capital in the Brazilian northeast and to compare them with a group of adolescents term at birth.

Methods: In a retrospective double cohort, data of birth weight were extracted from hospital registers of children born in a same day of birth, between 1992 and 2002. We classified the preterm as a unique group born before 37 weeks of gestation. A total of 134 adolescents, aged 10–20 years were found and investigated. We measured anthropometric and clinical data, blood lipid profile and glucose after overnight fasting.

Results: Preterm subjects had less years of scholar education, especially between females (p?=?0.01). Preterm females also had lower height (p?=?0.00) and waist-hip circumference ratio (p?=?0.01). Preterm males had lower cesarean delivery (p?=?0.05) and greater family history of cardiovascular disease (p?=?0.05). Although the differences on clinical or laboratorial measurements were small and non-significant for cardiovascular risk factors, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) tended to be higher in preterm groups, especially for females (SBP?=?4.1?mmHg and DBP?=?1.6?mmHg, p?=?0.12 and p?=?0.38, respectively).

Conclusion: Premature did not increase cardiovascular risk adolescents in this sample. The lower association between premature and poor health outcomes among adolescents in a low average socioeconomic status population from a capital in the Brazilian northeast corroborates previous findings in other countries.