Use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been associated with increased risks for birth defects. Variations in birth defect risks according to type of ART procedure have been noted, but findings are inconsistent.
To examine the prevalence of birth defects among liveborn infants conceived with and without ART and to evaluate risks associated with certain ART procedures among ART-conceived infants.
Used linked ART surveillance, birth certificates, and birth defects registry data for 3 states (Florida, Massachusetts, and Michigan). Methods for ascertaining birth defect cases varied by state. Resident live births during 2000 to 2010 were included, and the analysis was conducted between Feburary 2015 and August 2015.
Use of ART among all live births and use of certain ART procedures among ART births.
Prevalence of selected chromosomal and nonchromosomal birth defects that are usually diagnosed at or immediately after birth.
Of the 4 618 076 liveborn infants between 2000 and 2010, 64 861 (1.4%) were conceived using ART. Overall, the prevalence of 1 or more of the selected nonchromosomal defects was 58.59 per 10 000 for ART infants (n = 389) vs 47.50 per 10 000 for non-ART infants (n = 22 036). The association remained significant after adjusting for maternal characteristics and year of birth (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 1.28; 95% CI, 1.15-1.42). Similar differences were observed for singleton ART births vs their non-ART counterparts (63.69 per 10 000 [n = 218] vs 47.17 per 10 000 [n = 21 251]; aRR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.21-1.59). Among multiple births, the prevalence of rectal and large intestinal atresia/stenosis was higher for ART births compared with non-ART births (aRR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.38-4.12). Among ART births conceived after fresh embryo transfer, infants born to mothers with ovulation disorders had a higher prevalence of nonchromosomal birth defects (aRR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.13-2.06) than those born to mothers without the diagnosis, and use of assisted hatching was associated with birth defects among singleton births (aRR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.10-2.19). Multiplicity-adjusted P values for these associations were greater than .05.
Infants conceived after ART had a higher prevalence of certain birth defects. Assisted hatching and diagnosis of ovulation disorder were marginally associated with increased risks for nonchromosomal birth defects; however, these associations may be caused by other underlying factors.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 216. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 February 2022.
All research outputs
#221,848
of 33,732,945 outputs
Outputs from JAMA Pediatrics
#633
of 4,244 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,275
of 342,438 outputs
Outputs of similar age from JAMA Pediatrics
#9
of 81 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 33,732,945 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,244 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 131.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 342,438 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 81 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its contemporaries.
