Some results of this study have been presented at The Nordic Meeting on Register-based Health Research, Helsinki, Finland, September 22–23, 2005.
Received 7 May 2008; received in revised form 9 December 2008; accepted 11 December 2008. published online 27 January 2009.
Objective
To study the health of children born after ovulation induction (OI).
Design
Nationwide register-based study.
Setting
The OI children were followed up to the age of 4 years and compared with other children.
Patient(s)
The OI children (N = 4,467). Two control groups: all other children (excluding children born after IVF, N = 190,398) and a random sample of those children (n = 26,877).
Intervention(s)
Ovulation induction treatment in ordinary practice.
Main Outcome Measure(s)
Mortality rates and adjusted odds ratios for perinatal outcomes, hospitalizations, health-related benefits, and long-term medication use.
Result(s)
A total of 12% of OI and 2% of control children were multiples. Even after stratifying for multiplicity and adjusting for the available confounding factors (region, smoking, maternal age, socioeconomic position, and parity for perinatal health and mother's socioeconomic position for other indicators), most indicators showed worse health among OI children compared with control children. The OI children had poorer perinatal health and more episodes of long hospitalization than the control children. Singleton OI children had more long-term illnesses in childhood, as measured by child disability allowance, long-term medication use, and hospital care episodes.
Conclusion(s)
Either OI treatment or the reasons for the treatment increase the risk of health problems in early childhood.
R.K. has nothing to disclose. T.S. has nothing to disclose. M.G. has nothing to disclose. E.H. has nothing to disclose.
Supported by the Academy of Finland (number 73159), the Social Insurance Institution, the Ministry of Education (The School of Doctoral Programs in Public Health), and the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health.
ABSTRACT