Changes in the incidence of Down syndrome in Sweden during 1968-1982.
A continuous increase in the incidence of Down syndrome in Sweden was noted during 1979-1981. This increase mainly occurred among children of younger mothers and was more pronounced for the males than for the females. There was no evidence of a significant seasonal variation, increased frequency of prematurely born children, or decrease in the number of cases aborted after prenatal diagnosis. An analysis of the whole 15-year period indicates that the incidence of Down syndrome has increased slowly in both sexes, and that there might have been a superimposed cyclic variation limited to the males.
D000328:Adult; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors