Birth defect and risk factor surveillance in the northern and southwestern Netherlands

J Reefhuis; G R Zandwijken; H E De Walle; M C Cornel

doi:10.1159/000016193

Birth defect and risk factor surveillance in the northern and southwestern Netherlands

Community Genet. 1999;2(2-3):97-108. doi: 10.1159/000016193.

Authors

J Reefhuis¹, G R Zandwijken, H E De Walle, M C Cornel

Affiliation

¹ EUROCAT Northern Netherlands, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. j.reefhusi@med.rug.nl

PMID: 15181340
DOI: 10.1159/000016193

Abstract

Objective: To survey the associations between several risk factors and birth defects, in order to detect potential new teratogens.

Methods: Data of the two Dutch European Registration of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT) registries collected before January 1, 1998 were used to perform chi2 tests for a large number of risk factors and birth defects. Defects caused by chromosomal or monogenic disorders were analyzed separately.

Results: Cross-tabulations of 80 groups of birth defects with 303 risk factors were studied. Of these, 126 combinations had a p value under 0.05, and 34 had a p value under 0.001. Of these 34 associations, some are known in the literature, some were found before in the same databases and some were new associations.

Conclusions: This is a good method for generating new hypotheses for associations between risk factors and birth defects. It can be a start for new, more in-depth studies of potential teratogens.