Fetal growth and subsequent risk of XXXX : results from long term follow up of Swedish cohort.

@entity1 @entity0 @entity353
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether size at birth and rate of fetal growth influence the risk of @entity0 in adulthood. DESIGN: Cohort identified from detailed birth records, with 97% follow up. SETTING: Uppsala Academic Hospital, Sweden. @entity1 : 5358 singleton females born during 1915-29, alive and traced to the 1960 census. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of @entity0 before (at age <50 years) and after (> or = 50 years) the menopause. RESULTS: Size at birth was positively associated with rates of @entity0 in premenopausal @entity1 . In @entity1 who weighed > or =4000 g at birth rates of @entity0 were 3.5 times (95% confidence interval 1.3 to 9.3) those in @entity1 of similar gestational age who weighed <3000 g at birth. Rates in @entity1 in the top fifths of the distributions of birth length and head circumference were 3.4 (1.5 to 7.9) and 4.0 (1.6 to 10.0) times those in the lowest fifths (adjusted for gestational age). The effect of birth @entity353 after adjustment for birth length or head circumference, whereas the effects of birth length and head circumference remained significant after adjustment for birth weight. For a given size at birth, gestational age was inversely associated with risk (P=0.03 for linear trend). Adjustment for markers of adult risk factors did not affect these findings. Birth size was not associated with rates of @entity0 in postmenopausal @entity1 . CONCLUSIONS: Size at birth, particularly length and head circumference, is associated with risk of @entity0 in @entity1 aged <50 years. Fetal growth rate, as measured by birth size adjusted for gestational age, rather than size at birth may be the aetiologically relevant factor in @entity0 .
