Birthweight and coronary heart disease in a cohort born 1857-1900 in Melbourne, Australia

International Journal of Epidemiology
Ruth MorleyJohn B Carlin

Abstract

The widely observed association between birth size and risk of later coronary heart disease (CHD) has not been examined in an impoverished pre-20th century birth cohort. Birth weights and maternal characteristics, for births between 1857 and 1900 in a charity hospital, were recorded from preserved ledgers. Names were linked to death certificates to determine age and cause of death. Death with CHD was coded using specific criteria, and survival analysis methods were used to relate risk of CHD to birth weight, allowing for competing causes of death and adjusting for potentially confounding maternal factors. Death certificates were traced for 8,584 (53%) of 16,272 registered live-births. Survival analyses were confined to 2,938 subjects (1,572 male, 1,366 female) who survived beyond age 40, since none of the 486 CHD cases was recorded earlier. CHD risk increased with time, but there was no evidence that it was related to birth weight, in men or women. We did not replicate findings in more recent cohorts. This may represent a true lack of association in a historical cohort who we believe remained impoverished through their early life. However, we acknowledge the strong possibility of misclassification of cause of death by the perso...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 18, 2011·International Journal of Epidemiology·Kari R RisnesMichael B Bracken
Sep 11, 2010·Journal of Biomedical Science·Supaporn KulthineeSanya Roysommuti
Sep 30, 2014·Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease·S-F WangF-B Tao
Sep 11, 2010·Annals of Medicine·Zhongjie FanYi Zeng
Aug 31, 2016·Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease·T BrittosL Pellanda
Dec 8, 2012·World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics·Fernando Guerrero-Romero, Martha Rodríguez-Moran
Aug 26, 2006·International Journal of Epidemiology·Djp Barker
Oct 13, 2006·International Journal of Epidemiology·George Davey Smith
May 14, 2008·Journal of Hypertension·Peter M NilssonStéphane Laurent

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