Evaluating the Relationship Between Birth Weight for Gestational Age and Adult Blood Pressure Using Participants From a Cohort of Same-Sex Siblings, Discordant on Birth Weight Percentile

Abstract

Many studies have described an inverse relationship between birth weight and blood pressure (BP). Debate continues, however, over the magnitude and validity of the association. This analysis draws on the Early Determinants of Adult Health study (2005–2008), a cohort of 393 US adults (mean age 43 years; 47% male), including 114 same-sex sibling pairs deliberately sampled to be discordant on sex-specific birth weight for gestational age (BW/GA) in order to minimize confounding in studies of fetal growth and midlife health outcomes. Every quintile increment in BW/GA percentile was associated with a 1.04−mm Hg decrement in adult systolic BP (95% confidence interval (CI): −2.14, 0.06) and a 0.63−mm Hg decrement in diastolic BP (95% CI: −1.35, 0.09), controlling for sex, age, site, smoking, and race/ethnicity. The relationship was strongest among those in the lowest decile of BW/GA. Adding adult body mass index to the models attenuated the estimates (e.g., to −0.90 mm Hg (95% CI: −1.94, 0.14) for systolic BP). In the sibling-pair subgroup, associations were slightly stronger but with wider confidence intervals (e.g., −1.22 mm Hg (95% CI: −5.20, 2.75) for systolic BP). In conclusion, we found a small inverse relationship between BW/GA and BP in cohort and sibling-pair analyses, but the clinical or public health significance is likely limited.

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