To cite this abstract / Pentru a cita rezumatul:
Petrisor AI (2000), Maternal Smoking and Down Syndrome by Maternal Race, Bulletin of the South Carolina Academy of Science 62:77

Maternal Smoking and Down Syndrome by Maternal Race

Alexandru I. Petrisor, BS, University of South Carolina

Background. Down syndrome represents an important public health issue in the United States (US).
Purpose. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the relationship between maternal smoking and Down syndrome, among white and black women separately.
Methods. We used US birth certificate data for 1996 to conduct a population-based case-control analysis of this topic. Exclusion criteria were races other than white or black. All women who delivered an infant with Down syndrome (n = 885) were selected for the study. A random sample of women whose infant did not have Down syndrome formed the comparison group (n = 4465). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for the relationship between maternal smoking and Down syndrome, by maternal race.
Results. After adjusting for alcohol consumption and gestational age the effect of smoking on Down syndrome appeared to differ among black and white women. There was a reduced risk for Down syndrome among the white women (OR = 0.7, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = (0.6, 0.9)), but an increased risk among the black women (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = (1.0, 3.0)). This effect remained unchanged among white women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes/day, but was stronger among black women (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = (1.4, 5.8)).
Conclusion. We concluded that maternal race should be considered in further studies as an effect modifier of the relationship between Down syndrome and maternal smoking. Regardless of maternal race, women should be counseled against smoking during pregnancy due to its well-known association with adverse birth outcomes.