Paternal age and maternal age are risk factors for miscarriage; results of a multicentre European study

BACKGROUND: It is well known that miscarriage risk increases with age. However, studies usually investigate only maternal age effects. We investigated both maternal age and paternal age effects on miscarriage risk to provide insight into this frequent reproductive failure. METHODS: The last planned...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human reproduction (Oxford) 2002-06, Vol.17 (6), p.1649-1656
Main Authors: de La Rochebrochard, Elise, Thonneau, Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion, Spontaneous - epidemiology
Abortion, Spontaneous - etiology
Adult
ageing
Biological and medical sciences
Demography
Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy
Europe - epidemiology
Female
fetal death
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Life Sciences
Male
Maternal Age
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscarriage
Multivariate Analysis
Paternal Age
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome
Pregnancy, High-Risk
Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Santé publique et épidémiologie
spontaneous abortion
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:BACKGROUND: It is well known that miscarriage risk increases with age. However, studies usually investigate only maternal age effects. We investigated both maternal age and paternal age effects on miscarriage risk to provide insight into this frequent reproductive failure. METHODS: The last planned pregnancies (n = 3174) that ended in a birth or miscarriage were analysed in a retrospective population-based study on women aged 25–44 years in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Spain. Maternal and paternal ages were analysed together, using a single variable `couple age' in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, with couples composed of a woman and a man both aged 20–29 years forming the reference group. RESULTS: After adjustment for various factors (e.g. reproductive history, country), we found that the risk of miscarriage was higher if the woman was aged ≥35 years, as has already been reported in a number of studies. However, the increase in risk was much greater for couples composed of a woman aged ≥35 years and of a man aged ≥40 years. Potential source of bias (especially `reproductive compensation') are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of an adverse pregnancy outcome is highest if both partners are advanced in age.
ISSN:0268-1161
1460-2350
DOI:10.1093/humrep/17.6.1649