Abstract
In children there is limited understanding about the biological and environmental risk factors of fractures. Therefore, we aimed to study the effect of maternal smoking on preschool children's fractures hypothesizing that the fracture risk might be programmed during intrauterine growth in means of disturbed bone formation.A prospective birth cohort included women living in Northern Finland with an expected date of delivery between July 1st, 1985 and June 30th, 1986 (N=9362), and their offspring (N=9432). Smoking was inquired during pregnancy and when the offspring reached seven years of age. Information on in-hospital-treated fractures among the children was collected from the National Hospital Discharge Register (NHDR). The cases who declined to participate or suffered from any bone dysplasia such as osteogenesis imperfecta or any malignancy were excluded, thus 6718 subjects (71.2%) were finally included. Poisson regression analysis with adjustment for gender, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, socioeconomic status of the family, maternal age and body mass index (BMI) of the children was used to determine the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and bone fractures.Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with a 1.83-fold (95% CI 1.06–3.02, p=0.022) increased risk of in-hospital-treated fractures at pre-school age. The fracture risk in childhood is perhaps increased as a result of modified bone development of the fetus due to maternal smoking.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.