Scientific Reports (Aug 2023)

Association between gestational age at threatened preterm birth diagnosis and incidence of preterm birth: the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

  • Tsuyoshi Murata,
  • Hirotaka Isogami,
  • Karin Imaizumi,
  • Toma Fukuda,
  • Hyo Kyozuka,
  • Shun Yasuda,
  • Akiko Yamaguchi,
  • Akiko Sato,
  • Yuka Ogata,
  • Kosei Shinoki,
  • Mitsuaki Hosoya,
  • Seiji Yasumura,
  • Koichi Hashimoto,
  • Hidekazu Nishigori,
  • Keiya Fujimori,
  • the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS) Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38524-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract We evaluated the association between gestational age at threatened preterm birth (TPTB) diagnosis and preterm birth (PTB) incidence using a nationwide birth cohort. Data of 94,236 women with singleton deliveries from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (enrolled between 2011 and 2014) were analysed. Participants were divided based on parity and gestational age at TPTB diagnosis (22–24, 25–27, 28–30, 31–33, and 34–36 weeks). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) for PTB before 37 and 34 weeks in women from all groups, using participants without TPTB as the reference. The adjusted ORs for PTB before 37 weeks were the highest in the latest gestational age group in nulliparous and multiparous women without previous PTB, while those before 34 weeks were the highest in the earliest and latest gestational age group in multiparous women without previous PTB and in the earliest gestational age group in multiparous women with previous PTB. The association between gestational age at TPTB diagnosis and PTB incidence varies based on maternal parity and PTB before 37 or 34 weeks. Further studies with detailed clinical data and a unified TPTB diagnosis protocol are necessary to clarify this association.