Maternal age as a risk factor for hypospadias.
OBJECTIVE
Hypospadias incidence rates have been widely reported to be increasing. During the last 20 years there has been a significant increase in the number of women who delay childbearing until their mid 30s. Therefore, it was of interest to determine if increasing maternal age is an independent risk factor for hypospadias.


METHODS
Data from the New York State Department of Health and California Birth Defects Monitoring Program were analyzed from 1983 to 1996 by maternal age groups of less than 20, 20 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 34, and 35 or greater years. A Poisson model was fitted to the data from each state using maternal age and year of birth from which relative rates were calculated.


RESULTS
Our analysis revealed that advancing maternal age is significantly associated with hypospadias and is most evident for severe cases. For example, in California a 50% increase in severe cases was demonstrated for children of mothers older than 35 years compared to mothers younger than 20 years (p <0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Hypospadias is significantly associated with increasing maternal age. Women who elect to delay childbearing until their mid 30s or later should be aware that their offspring are at increased risk of hypospadias.
Fisch
H
H
Male Reproductive Center, Department of Urology and Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Columbia University, American Infertility Association, New York, New York, USA.
Golden
R J
RJ
Libersen
G L
GL
Hyun
G S
GS
Madsen
P
P
New
M I
MI
Hensle
T W
TW
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007021:Hypospadias / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D012307:Risk Factors