Maternal use of oral contraceptives during early pregnancy and risk of hypospadias in male offspring.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between maternal use of oral contraceptives in early pregnancy and increased prevalence of hypospadias in male offspring.


METHODS
We conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study using data from nationwide medical databases. Among live male births between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2005, we identified all cases of hypospadias recorded anytime postpartum (n = 1683) and randomly selected 10 controls per case without such a diagnosis (n = 15 650), matched by year and hospital of birth. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate prevalence ratios stratified according to time of diagnosis (within 6 months postpartum, >6 months postpartum), controlling for potential confounding factors including maternal age, birth order, maternal smoking, prescriptions for ovulation-inducing drugs, antiepileptics, and antidiabetics, and a maternal diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.


RESULTS
We included 1683 cases of hypospadias and 15,650 population controls during 1996-2005. Among the 1186 boys who had their hypospadias diagnosis recorded within 6 months postpartum, 28 (2.4%) had been exposed to oral contraceptives between 30 days before conception until the end of the first trimester. Among the controls, 307 (2.8%) were similarly exposed, corresponding to a prevalence ratio of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.57-1.27) after adjusting for possible confounders. For a diagnosis registered >6 months postpartum, the adjusted prevalence ratio was 1.12 (95% CI: 0.61-2.06).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data do not support the hypothesis that maternal use of oral contraceptives around conception is associated with an increased prevalence of hypospadias in the offspring.
Nørgaard
Mette
M
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. m.noergaard@rn.dk
Wogelius
Pia
P
Pedersen
Lars
L
Rothman
Kenneth J
KJ
Sørensen
Henrik T
HT
D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007021:Hypospadias / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors
D003276:Contraceptives, Oral