TY - JOUR
T1 - Mother-level random effect in the association between PM2.5 and fetal growth
T2 - A population-based pregnancy cohort
AU - Ahmad, Wiessam Abu
AU - Nirel, Ronit
AU - Golan, Rachel
AU - Jolles, Maya
AU - Kloog, Itai
AU - Rotem, Ran
AU - Negev, Maya
AU - Koren, Gideon
AU - Levine, Hagai
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding was provided by Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection award 161-1-4. The Ministry of Environmental Protection had no role in the design of the study nor in the writing of the manuscript. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Funding Information:
Funding was provided by Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection award 161-1-4 . The Ministry of Environmental Protection had no role in the design of the study nor in the writing of the manuscript. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Background: A growing body of literature reports associations between exposure to particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) during pregnancy and birth outcomes. However, findings are inconsistent across studies. Objectives: To assess the association between PM2.5 and birth outcomes of fetal growth in a cohort with high prevalence of siblings by multilevel models accounting for geographical- and mother-level correlations. Methods: In Israel, we used Maccabi Healthcare Services data to establish a population-based cohort of 381,265 singleton births reaching 24–42 weeks’ gestation and birth weight of 500–5000 g (2004–2015). Daily PM2.5 predictions from a satellite-based spatiotemporal model were linked to the date of birth and maternal residence. We generated mean PM2.5 values for the entire pregnancy and for exposure periods during pregnancy. Associations between exposure and birth outcomes were modeled by using multilevel logistic regression with random effects for maternal locality of residence, administrative census area (ACA) and mother. Results: In fully adjusted models with a mother-level random intercept only, a 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 over the entire pregnancy was positively associated with term low birth weight (TLBW) (Odds ratio, OR = 1.25, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.09,1.43) and small for gestational age (SGA) (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.06,1.26). Locality- and ACA-level effects accounted for <0.4% of the variance while mother-level effects explained ∼50% of the variability. Associations varied by exposure period, infants’ sex, birth order, and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. Conclusions: Consideration of mother-level variability in a region with high fertility rates provides new insights on the strength of associations between PM2.5 and birth outcomes.
AB - Background: A growing body of literature reports associations between exposure to particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) during pregnancy and birth outcomes. However, findings are inconsistent across studies. Objectives: To assess the association between PM2.5 and birth outcomes of fetal growth in a cohort with high prevalence of siblings by multilevel models accounting for geographical- and mother-level correlations. Methods: In Israel, we used Maccabi Healthcare Services data to establish a population-based cohort of 381,265 singleton births reaching 24–42 weeks’ gestation and birth weight of 500–5000 g (2004–2015). Daily PM2.5 predictions from a satellite-based spatiotemporal model were linked to the date of birth and maternal residence. We generated mean PM2.5 values for the entire pregnancy and for exposure periods during pregnancy. Associations between exposure and birth outcomes were modeled by using multilevel logistic regression with random effects for maternal locality of residence, administrative census area (ACA) and mother. Results: In fully adjusted models with a mother-level random intercept only, a 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 over the entire pregnancy was positively associated with term low birth weight (TLBW) (Odds ratio, OR = 1.25, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.09,1.43) and small for gestational age (SGA) (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.06,1.26). Locality- and ACA-level effects accounted for <0.4% of the variance while mother-level effects explained ∼50% of the variability. Associations varied by exposure period, infants’ sex, birth order, and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. Conclusions: Consideration of mother-level variability in a region with high fertility rates provides new insights on the strength of associations between PM2.5 and birth outcomes.
KW - Adverse birth outcome
KW - Air pollution
KW - Exposure period
KW - Low birth weight
KW - Particulate matter
KW - Small for gestational age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125693069&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112974
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112974
M3 - Article
C2 - 35192805
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 210
SP - 112974
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 112974
ER -