Pre-pregnancy BMI modifies the optimal interpregnancy interval for preventing preterm birth: a population-based...

To investigate whether pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) modifies the association between interpregnancy interval (IPI) and preterm birth (PTB) risk and to determine the BMI-specific IPI associated with the lowest PTB risk.

This population-based retrospective cohort study utilized data from 127,542 multiparous women in Dongguan, China (2014-2024). We employed two complementary approaches: a generalized additive mixed model and generalized estimating equations with restricted cubic splines, to examine the interaction between IPI and pre-pregnancy BMI on PTB. The robustness of the findings was evaluated through inverse probability weighting and subgroup analyses.

Pre-pregnancy BMI significantly modified the IPI-PTB association. A clear inverse relationship was observed, whereby the IPI associated with the lowest PTB risk shortened progressively as BMI increased. The adjusted IPI associated with the lowest PTB risk decreased from 38.8 months (95% CI: 32.0-60.0) among underweight women to 32.4 months (29.7-37.2) for normal weight and 26.7 months (6.0-30.8) for overweight. For women with obesity, within the studied range (IPI ≥ 6 months), the lowest risk was observed at the shortest interval (6.0 months), although the wide 95% confidence interval (6.0-60.0) and the exclusion of IPIs <6 months warrant cautious interpretation. This "dose-response" pattern remained robust across sensitivity and subgroup analyses.

This study provides evidence that pre-pregnancy BMI is an important effect modifier of the IPI-PTB relationship. The finding that the IPI associated with the lowest PTB risk shortens with increasing BMI indicates that the relationship between interpregnancy interval and preterm birth varies by maternal BMI. Although causal inference cannot be drawn from this observational study, the results suggest that uniform IPI guidelines may warrant re-examination across BMI categories.