Women referred for occupational risk assessment in pregnancy have no increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes

TY - JOUR

T1 - Women referred for occupational risk assessment in pregnancy have no increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes

AU - Bidstrup, Signe Brøker

AU - Kaerlev, Linda

AU - Thulstrup, Ane Marie

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter Ellekilde

PY - 2015/8/1

Y1 - 2015/8/1

N2 - Introduction: Our aim was to study the association between pregnant women’s referral status for occupational risk assessment, and their risk of preterm delivery (< 37 weeks), low birthweight (LBW) (< 2,500g) and small for gestational age (SGA). Methods: In a cohort study, 1,202 deliveries among pregnant women referred to two Danish clinics of occupational medicine (Copenhagen and Aarhus) from 1984 to 2010 were compared with the referred women’s 1,077 non-referred pregnancy outcomes and with the pregnancy outcomes of 345,467 gainfully employed women from the same geographical areas and time period. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Calculations were adjusted for the mother’s age at delivery, parity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, smoking, and in supplementary analyses for year of birth. Results: Referred women gave birth to children with a higher birthweight than the average employee (difference 47.8 g; 95% CI: 19.9-75.6), but the outcomes did not differ with respect to gestational age (difference 0.05 weeks; 95% CI: –0.06-0.17), preterm delivery (OR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.62- 1.04), LBW (OR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.52-1.26) or SGA (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.72-1.17). Conclusion: The women who are referred for occupational risk assessment at two large occupational university departments are not at an increased risk of preterm birth or of delivering low birthweight children. This may reflect that reproductive hazards in Danish workplaces are limited and/ or that the occupational risk assessment and counselling of pregnant women are preventing these selected adverse pregnancy outcomes. Funding: The Research Unit at Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital supported the study financially. Trial registration: none. The study was conducted using systematically collected data including the refereed women’s occupational exposure codes, which were anonymised and linked to national registries at Statistic Denmark. The Danish Data Protection Agency approved the study (R. no. 2012-41-1267).

AB - Introduction: Our aim was to study the association between pregnant women’s referral status for occupational risk assessment, and their risk of preterm delivery (< 37 weeks), low birthweight (LBW) (< 2,500g) and small for gestational age (SGA). Methods: In a cohort study, 1,202 deliveries among pregnant women referred to two Danish clinics of occupational medicine (Copenhagen and Aarhus) from 1984 to 2010 were compared with the referred women’s 1,077 non-referred pregnancy outcomes and with the pregnancy outcomes of 345,467 gainfully employed women from the same geographical areas and time period. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Calculations were adjusted for the mother’s age at delivery, parity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, smoking, and in supplementary analyses for year of birth. Results: Referred women gave birth to children with a higher birthweight than the average employee (difference 47.8 g; 95% CI: 19.9-75.6), but the outcomes did not differ with respect to gestational age (difference 0.05 weeks; 95% CI: –0.06-0.17), preterm delivery (OR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.62- 1.04), LBW (OR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.52-1.26) or SGA (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.72-1.17). Conclusion: The women who are referred for occupational risk assessment at two large occupational university departments are not at an increased risk of preterm birth or of delivering low birthweight children. This may reflect that reproductive hazards in Danish workplaces are limited and/ or that the occupational risk assessment and counselling of pregnant women are preventing these selected adverse pregnancy outcomes. Funding: The Research Unit at Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital supported the study financially. Trial registration: none. The study was conducted using systematically collected data including the refereed women’s occupational exposure codes, which were anonymised and linked to national registries at Statistic Denmark. The Danish Data Protection Agency approved the study (R. no. 2012-41-1267).

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Infant, Low Birth Weight

KW - Infant, Newborn

KW - Infant, Small for Gestational Age

KW - Logistic Models

KW - Occupational Exposure

KW - Occupational Health

KW - Odds Ratio

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Pregnancy Complications

KW - Pregnancy Outcome

KW - Premature Birth

KW - Referral and Consultation

KW - Registries

KW - Risk Assessment

KW - Young Adult

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26239590

SN - 2245-1919

VL - 62

SP - 1

EP - 6

JO - Danish Medical Journal

JF - Danish Medical Journal

IS - 8

M1 - A5119

ER -