Impaired reproductive fitness in mothers of children with juvenile autoimmune arthropathies

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Impaired reproductive fitness in mothers of children with juvenile

autoimmune arthropathies

http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/10/1282

Objective. To assess the reproductive fitness of mothers of children with

juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods. A mail survey assessing pregnancy outcome was carried out among

mothers of children with JIA (JIA mothers) treated at a tertiary paediatric

rheumatology centre. The best friends of the JIA mothers served as controls.

Besides family history, sociodemographics and reproductive outcomes were

measured, including the number of pregnancies, pregnancy complications and

gestational age at the time of delivery.

Results. JIA mothers (n = 227) and controls (n = 235) had similar

sociodemographics and racial backgrounds. On average, JIA mothers reported a

greater number of conceptions than controls (3.5 vs 3.1) but had

significantly higher rates of pregnancy complications (25% vs 15%).

Corrected for differences in the absolute number of pregnancies between

groups, the chances of having a miscarriage [mean (S.D.), 0.12 (0.18) vs

0.09 (0.16)] or preterm delivery [0.08 (0.21) vs 0.04 (0.15)] were

significantly greater among JIA mothers than controls.

Conclusions. Mothers of children with JIA have impaired reproductive

fitness. This phenomenon is unlikely to be the result of difficulty with

conception but rather to be due to higher rates of pregnancy loss and

premature delivery.

Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on April 4, 2006

Rheumatology 2006 45(10):1282-1287; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel092

M. Chaudhari1, M. B. Moroldo1, E. Shear1, P. Hillard2, S. D. 1, D.

Lan3, B. Huang3, H. I. Brunner1 and D. N. Glass1,

1Division of Rheumatology, 2Division of Adolescent Medicine and 3Center for

Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical

Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Correspondence to: D. N. Glass, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical

Center, Division of Rheumatology, E.2 4010, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati,

OH 45229-3039, USA. E-mail: david.glass@...