Advanced Maternal Age and the Future Health of the Offspring

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Pediatric Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Advanced maternal age (AMA) is linked to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
• The long-term health implications for offspring born to older mothers require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between advanced maternal age and the long-term health of offspring.
• To determine if maternal age at delivery impacts the cumulative incidence of pediatric morbidities up to age 18.

Main Methods:

• Population-based cohort study including 202,709 deliveries between 1991 and 2014.
• Comparison of offspring hospitalizations up to age 18 based on maternal age groups (35-39 and 40-50 years).
• Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression models were used to assess cumulative morbidity incidence and control for confounders.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in the cumulative incidence of long-term pediatric morbidities was observed in offspring of older mothers compared to a reference group.
• Advanced maternal age did not show an independent association with long-term offspring morbidities in Cox regression analyses.
• The study included a large cohort, with 12.9% of deliveries from women aged 35-39 and 3.3% from women aged 40-50.

Conclusions:

• Advanced maternal age is not associated with increased long-term morbidity in offspring.
• Findings suggest that concerns regarding long-term child health due to advanced maternal age may be unwarranted.
• Further research could explore specific subgroups or less common morbidities.