title: Blood pressure in relation to birth weight in twins and singleton controls matched for gestational age.
abstract: Associations between adult blood pressure and birth weight were investigated in 122 same-sex twin pairs aged 18-50 years and 86 singleton controls matched according to maternal age and parity, gender, gestational age, and current age who were recruited via an obstetric database in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1999. Twins weighed on average 425 g less than controls at birth (p < 0.001) but did not differ significantly in adult height or systolic or diastolic blood pressure from the controls. Among controls, the differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure per kg of difference in birth weight, adjusted for gender, gestational age, current age, body mass index, smoking, physical activity level, and alcohol intake, were -4.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): -12.8, 4.3) and -6.1 (95% CI: -10.8, -1.5) mmHg/kg, respectively. In unpaired analysis among all twins, the equivalent values were -0.1 (95% CI: -4.0, 3.8) mmHg/kg for systolic pressure and -0.4 (95% CI: -2.9, 2.2) mmHg/kg for diastolic pressure, while in within-pair analysis the values were -0.9 (95% CI: -6.4, 4.6) mmHg/kg for systolic pressure and -0.2 (95% CI: -4.1, 3.7) mmHg/kg for diastolic pressure. The results suggest that in-utero growth restriction in twins is not a major determinant of their blood pressure as adults.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. g.mcneill@abdn.ac.uk
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McNeill
authors.forename: Chuluuntulga
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tuya
authors.forename: Doris M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haggarty
authors.forename: W Cairns S
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lindsey F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Masson
authors.forename: Alastair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Broom
authors.forename: Neva
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haites
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001724:Birth Weight; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012042:Registries; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires