Comparative analysis of the prevalence of congenital malformations of the brain in children of the radioactively contaminated territories of the Bryansk region after the Chernobyl disaster (1999-2014)

Abstract

Purpose of the study. Based on the official statistics for 1999-2014, we carried out a comparative analysis of the incidence of congenital brain malformations in children resided in the radiation-contaminated areas of the Bryansk region after the Chernobyl disaster with different densities of Cesium-137 and Strontium-90. Material and Methods. Student’s t-test, Pearson chi-square test, Pearson correlation test, linear regression. Results. As a result of the study, no statistically significant excess in the frequency of anencephaly, hydrocephalus and encephalocele in children in more radiation-contaminated south-western territories (SWT) was found compared to the average regional data. However, in the SWT, the prevalence of microcephaly is statistically significant (p<0,05) above the average regional values (5.8 times). While the maximum values are recorded in the most radioactively polluted areas of the region when high statistically significant correlations are detected with the density of radioactive contamination with Cesium-137 (r=0.69; p=0.040) and Strontium 90 (r=0.70; p=0.037), while there are no significant dependencies for other brain defects of the brain. A statistically significant decrease in the long-term trend in the prevalence of microcephaly throughout the region without SWT in the period 1999-2014, and an increase in the radiation-contaminated SWT, was found. Conclusions. The results obtained presumably indicate to the influence of the radiation factor on the increased incidence of microcephaly in SWT relative to the average regional values without SWT for a sixteen-year period (1999-2014). The further studies are needed to analyze the incidence of various types of congenital malformations in order to determine a strategy for preventing birth of children with congenital anomalies.