Maternal obesity associated with neural tube defects
Clinical Question
Is maternal obesity associated with an increased risk for neural tube defects in offspring?
Bottom Line
There is an association between maternal obesity and neural tube defects in their children with a dose-response gradient (increasing risk with increasing body mass index) that persists after adjustment for known confounders. Intervention studies are needed. (LOE = 1a-)
Reference
Rasmussen SA, Chu SY, Kim SY, Schmid CH, Lau J. Maternal obesity and risk of neural tube defects: a metaanalysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2008;198:611-619. [PMID:18538144]
Study Design
Meta-analysis (other)
Funding
Government
Setting
Various (meta-analysis)
Synopsis
Observational studies regarding the association between neural tube defects and maternal obesity have had inconsistent results. These authors conducted a meta-analysis of the published literature to synthesize the evidence. They identified 12 cohort and case-control studies that met their inclusion criteria of reporting obesity measures before pregnancy weight gain, had comparison group of normal weight women, and reported the outcome of neural tube defects. All but 2 studies were conducted in the United States. Neural tube defects were defined as spina bifida, anencephaly, encephalocele, craniorachischis, or iniencephaly. The authors calculated unadjusted odds ratios of 1.22 (95% CI, 0.99-1.49), 1.70 (1.34-2.15), and 3.11 (1.75-5.46), among overweight, obese, and severely obese women. Adjustments to account for other variables did not meaningfully change the results.
Citation
Barry, Henry, et al., editors. "Maternal Obesity Associated With Neural Tube Defects." EE+ POEM Archive, John Wiley & Sons, 2024. Evidence Central, evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426092/all/Maternal_obesity_associated_with_neural_tube_defects.
Maternal obesity associated with neural tube defects. In: Barry HH, Ebell MHM, Shaughnessy AFA, et al, eds. EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons; 2024. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426092/all/Maternal_obesity_associated_with_neural_tube_defects. Accessed November 7, 2024.
Maternal obesity associated with neural tube defects. (2024). In Barry, H., Ebell, M. H., Shaughnessy, A. F., & Slawson, D. C. (Eds.), EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426092/all/Maternal_obesity_associated_with_neural_tube_defects
Maternal Obesity Associated With Neural Tube Defects [Internet]. In: Barry HH, Ebell MHM, Shaughnessy AFA, Slawson DCD, editors. EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons; 2024. [cited 2024 November 07]. Available from: https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426092/all/Maternal_obesity_associated_with_neural_tube_defects.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Maternal obesity associated with neural tube defects
ID - 426092
ED - Barry,Henry,
ED - Ebell,Mark H,
ED - Shaughnessy,Allen F,
ED - Slawson,David C,
BT - EE+ POEM Archive
UR - https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426092/all/Maternal_obesity_associated_with_neural_tube_defects
PB - John Wiley & Sons
DB - Evidence Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -