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[Meta-analysis of risk factors for childhood cerebral palsy during pregnancy]
Jing Xue1, Li-Zhang Chen, Lei Xue
1Department of Epidemiology, Public Health School of Central South University, Changsha 410078, China. chenliz@csu.edu.cn.
Insights
Pregnancy risks like advanced maternal age, multiple births, and infections increase cerebral palsy (CP) likelihood. Identifying these factors aids in CP prevention strategies for healthier outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Public Health
Context:
- Childhood cerebral palsy (CP) is a complex developmental disorder.
- Identifying prenatal risk factors is crucial for effective prevention strategies.
- Existing research has explored various factors, but a comprehensive meta-analysis is needed.
Purpose:
- To systematically review and quantitatively assess major risk factors for childhood cerebral palsy during pregnancy.
- To provide evidence-based insights for the prevention of CP.
Summary:
- A meta-analysis of 18 case-control studies (11,050 cases, 15,941 controls) identified significant risk factors for childhood cerebral palsy during pregnancy.
- Key factors include advanced maternal age (≥35 years), multiple pregnancy, early pregnancy medication use, exposure to harmful environments, recurrent vaginal bleeding, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
Impact:
- Findings highlight critical areas for intervention and public health focus to reduce CP incidence.
- Informs healthcare providers and expectant parents about modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.
- Provides a quantitative basis for developing targeted CP prevention programs.
Objective:
To investigate major risk factors for childhood cerebral palsy (CP) during pregnancy and to provide evidence for the prevention of CP.
Methods:
Using the search terms of "cerebral palsy", "pregnancy", "risk factor", and "case-control", a search was performed to collect case-control studies on the risk factors for childhood CP from 1998 to 2011. The obtained data were subjected to metaanalysis using fixed effects model and DersimonionLaird random effects model to quantitatively evaluate risk factors for childhood CP during pregnancy.
Results:
Eighteen studies involving 11050 cases and 15941 controls were collected. The results of the multivariate analysis for risk factors of childhood CP during pregnancy were as follows: maternal age (≥35 years) (OR = 4.172, 95%CI = 1.670-10.426, P < 0.05), multiple pregnancy (OR = 8.402, 95% CI = 2.386-29.584, P < 0.05), medicine use in early pregnancy (OR = 3.974, 95% CI = 2.217-7.123, P < 0.05), harmful environment (OR = 3.299, 95% CI = 1.058-10.289, P < 0.05), recurrent vaginal bleeding during pregnancy (OR = 4.736, 95% CI = 1.792-12.517, P < 0.05), pregnancy infectious diseases (OR = 1.238, 95%CI: 0.284-5.395, P > 0.05), pregnancy induced hypertension (OR = 4.096, 95%CI: 2.246-7.469, P < 0.05), meat intake (OR = 1.436, 95%CI:0.382-5.393, P > 0.05), father smoking (OR = 2.376, 95%CI: 0.801-7.049, P > 0.05).
Conclusions:
The major risk factors for childhood CP during pregnancy include advanced maternal age (≥35 years), multiple pregnancy, medicine use in early pregnancy, harmful environment, recurrent vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
